


A Lovely Little Affair or Not

by samellatrent38



Series: A Lovely Little Affair or Not [1]
Category: Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-04 03:09:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 24,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14010870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samellatrent38/pseuds/samellatrent38
Summary: AU-This story takes place a little after Amanda met Alan Chamberlin from "A Lovely Little Romance" Season 3, episode 1. Alan and Amanda become reacquainted at a party. Once Amanda and Alan reconnect, where does that leave Lee?This episode was one where Amanda met she actually seemed to like Alan Chamberlain.  He turned out to be a really nice guy and he also was not crooked as they had anticipated.At the end of the episode, Alan told Amanda how sweet she was and then kissed her upon the lips.  He then said: Goodbye but I would have loved it if there was another episode where he either came back and he and Amanda picked up where they left off.  In this story, Alan comes back somewhere after Over the Limit but before Utopia Now.





	1. Chapter One

Amanda and Lee have become closer by now, but have yet to actually kiss or share that they have feelings for one another other than partnership or friendship. This episode is shortly after Lee has been dating Leslie.

In this version, Amanda and Lee are at a party where Lee is supposed to pick up some information from a contact.

Lee glanced at Amanda who was amazingly stunning in a black dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of high heels that added a few inches to her already tall height, making him feel short. Her hair was swept up in a bun. Normally, he didn’t care or think about leaving her alone on an assignment, but now he seemed to not want to ever leave her alone, assignment or not. This wasn’t of course the first time they’d gone out to one of these events, but things had definitely changed between them since they’d, dare he say it, became partners. Since that time, he certainly did consider her his partner and friend, and if he was honest with himself, a little bit more. He was reluctant to leave her alone. Besides the fact that she usually got herself in some sort of trouble, oftentimes, when he came back, he found her with some man or another. _But Lee, what do you expect to happen when you leave her alone?_

_“Lee? You okay?” Amanda asked. “You seem distracted.”_

_“I’m fine.”   He looped his arm in hers._

_“Amanda, you look exceptionally pretty tonight.”_

_“Thanks Lee! So do you big fella!”_

_“Well thank you! I should probably mingle and see if I can find my contact. “_

_“Okay!”_

_“I promise I won’t be long. We should even have a chance to dance.” Lee called over his shoulder. “And, try not to get into any trouble.”_

_She smiled at his comment as he walked away. She was used to these parties by now. Most of the time, Amanda wouldn’t even see Lee for most of the night, let alone the two of them dancing. In fact, there was a time, Lee made sure she knew they weren’t there for pleasure and made it a point to not spend any extra time with her. But lately, he’d been making it a point to dance with her at these functions and the two of them had been spending a little more time together, after the whole incident with Leslie. Although he hadn’t mentioned her name or any woman’s name for that matter, lately, she wasn’t sure if or who he was seeing these days. Not that it’s your business Amanda, she chided herself. Yes, they’d come closer and had almost kissed a few times, but something or someone always seemed to get in their way. Oh, well, tonight was business anyway._


	2. Chapter 2

Alan Chamberlain had been sitting across the room talking to an elderly couple, bored stiff and ready to excuse and leave the party when he watched as Amanda King and Lee Stetson entered the room. Alan had only been back in the United States a few days, returning to Washington to complete a simple, yet lucrative art restoration. Parts of him had longed to come back sooner but he’d kept putting it off. After continuing to be sought after for the project, he decided not to put it off any longer and he must admit there was that part of him that had longed for and hoped for a reunion with the elusive, yet stunningly attractive Amanda King. He had figured on calling her in a day or two but here she was just a few feet away from him. From what he’d been told, they were only partners, but by the way Mr. Stetson was looking at Amanda, Alan wondered if there wasn’t something more going on between them. Her partner also seemed to keep his hand upon Amanda’s for what seemed like a rather ornate amount of time. Alan continued the conversation he was having, but his eyes were very aware of Amanda and Stetson, so much so, that he saw the moment Lee left Amanda’s side. “Finally,” Alan thought to himself. Making his excuses, he quickly got up and moved purposely across the room directly in front of Amanda. He would soon find out whether or not there was something more going on between the two of them. He had to admit that he was curious to see if the attraction they had was still there or had only been a fleeting experience.

_“Hi Amanda,” Amanda turned around to find Alan Chamberlain directly in front of her with his hand extended._

__

“Hi Alan,” Amanda returned.

__

“How have you been?”

__

“I have been doing well. Thanks.”

__

“And how is your aunt?” He asked then smiled. “Actually, no, it’s your mother right, and two young sons?”

__

“Yes, that is correct. They are fine.”

__

“I’m glad.”

__

“And your sister?”

__

“She is well.”

__

“Alan I can’t apologize enough for that incident.” When he didn’t respond, Amanda said, “Alan?” She said, as if reading his mind.

__

“Sorry, just thinking. No need to apologize. I’ve forgotten all about that incident.” He took her hands in his. “In fact, I’ve forgotten about it long ago, it’s only just that my foolish pride has stopped me from coming to see you sooner.” He went on to explain himself and how once he had decided to come to the states he was going to call her but once he saw her here at the party, he knew his first thoughts of reconnecting with her were right. “Besides Amanda, you didn’t run into me intentionally and you were there to help save my sister.” He bent down and kissed one of her hands. “And for that, I will always be grateful.”

__

Amanda couldn’t help but relish the warmth of his lips upon her skin and she recalled his kisses from the last time he was in town.

__

“No need to be grateful, I was only doing my job.”

__

“Well, you have my gratitude whether you want it or not, as well as the gratitude of my sister.”

__

She smiled and after a moment, she asked, ‘what brings you here?”

__

“Some colleagues invited me, but truth be told, I was so bored I was about to leave when I saw you walk in with Mr. Stetson, your partner, right?”

__

Amanda didn’t miss the raised glint in his eye when he said partner. “Yes, my partner and—“? W _hat exactly was Lee to her?_ “And friend.” She finished quickly. “We’re here tonight on business.”

__

“Good. I mean, I see. Amanda—“he paused as he glanced around for Mr. Stetson.

__

“Yes, Alan?”

__

“Do you know how long Mr. Stetson will need you here?”

__

“I’m not sure, why”

__

“Well, I was hoping you and I could go somewhere and become reacquainted.”

__

_Reacquainted? Amanda had to admit that she liked the sounds of that but what about Lee? Lee had mentioned them dancing, but it wasn’t as though they were dating or anything and Alan would only be in town for a little bit, besides, there had definitely been some chemistry between her and Alan when he was here before._ “I would like that very much.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lee couldn’t believe this. As soon as he walked away, he saw a man walk up to Amanda. This was record time, even for Amanda. Whenever they went to these things, Amanda would seem to catch the eye of someone or another. It wasn’t really her fault he supposed. She was beautiful and so approachable and he always left her alone. What was he complaining about? Why wouldn’t or shouldn’t she mingle? What should he expect? It wasn’t as though there was anything between them or was there?

__

As Lee tried to focus in on his contact, Lee’s eyes continued to dart Amanda’s way, but more specifically on the man standing next to her. He couldn’t quite place him, but he was pretty sure he’d seen him before. Although he couldn’t see the tall gentleman completely, the features that he could see; seemed familiar. Lee rapidly finished his business and walked back to Amanda.

__

“Hi Amanda, I’m all through now. Would you like to dance now?” Lee asked as he approached Amanda and company. It was then that the tall gentleman turned around. Lee recognized him instantly now, Alan Chamberlain. Once Amanda said he was as dull as a stick. Her face seemed rather lit up for him to be so dull!

__

“Hey Lee, I was hoping you were done.” She turned to Alan. “You remember Alan Chamberlain don’t you? Lee Stetson, Alan Chamberlain.” She introduced the two men, ever aware of the fact that they were seizing each other up.

__

Lee was cordial, as he held out his hand to Alan, but there was definitely something there, something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. But then that was Lee. Lee always seemed to size up everyone, well any male that Amanda was near, even when they weren’t as close friends as they are now.

__

After a few pleasantries, Amanda said to Lee, “Lee can I talk to you a moment?”

__

“Sure.”

__

“Alan, please excuse us!”

__

“Of course,” Alan replied.

__

Amanda and Lee walked away from Alan, a little away over to the side.

__

“If you don’t need me anymore tonight, I was thinking that I’d leave now. Alan said he’d give me a ride home.”

__

“I thought we were going to dance.” Lee said hopefully.

__

“No, Lee, it isn’t that, it’s just that—“

__

“Aren’t you feeling well? I can drive you home.”

__

“I’m fine.” Amanda’s eyes darted over to Alan. “Look, I know you hate these parties anyway and you’ve always only brought me along as window dressing anyway-“

__

“That isn’t true. I would hardly call you just window dressing, especially now—,” he paused, “after all we’ve been through.”

__

“Well, maybe not now, but that’s what you’ve called me in the past,” she placed her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, I’m here to help you any way I can.”

__

_Then stay,_ Lee thought to himself, but said instead, “I’m sorry if that’s how I’ve made you feel in the past. I don’t think that anymore.” Lee had to admit though, he basically called on her for basis support and very often he’d send her home or they would leave once they conducted their business. But that was the past. Now, he actually enjoyed these functions with her.

__

“It’s okay. Truth of the matter is Alan and I was thinking of going for a coffee or some desert.”

__

“Oh, I see!” Well, Amanda obviously had other plans, plans that didn’t include him. 

__

When Lee didn’t say anything else, Amanda said. “Then if you don’t need anything further, I’ll see you Monday.”

__

“Okay Amanda, see you Monday morning.”

__

As they went to leave, Lee turned to Chamberlain. “I trust you will make sure she gets home safely.”

__

“Of course,” Alan replied arching an eyebrow at Lee.

__

///

__

“Is there someplace we can go that has good coffee and great desert?” Alan as he escorted her to his car.

__

“Yes, I know of just the place.”

__

“Give me directions or maybe you better drive.”

__

“You start off driving but if you get in a real bind, I’ll drive.”

__

As they drove, Alan asked: “Can I ask you something?”

__

“Sure.”

__

“Is he always this protective of you?”

__

“Who? Oh, you mean Lee?”

__

“Yes.”

__

“Actually, he can be worse,” she said with a laugh. His protectiveness had certainly served her well a few times. She thought back to one of their very first cases, the one where she was drugged and Lee went after her without the support of the agency and he carried her out of the house and sought help for her. “I’m his partner; he’s just concerned about me, that’s all.” Alan glanced over at her quickly then returned his eyes to the road.

__

///

__


	4. Chapter 4

Lee had decided to head home after Amanda left the party. It didn’t seem worth staying without her. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t find someone to dance with or spend the night with for that matter. Hell, on one occasion or another, when he’s been at these things with Amanda, women have hit on him and even as he was leaving, he ran into an old flame. But Lee wasn’t interested and he didn’t know why that was, or did he? They’d been through everything from being kidnapped to being drugged and tied up to being shot at to having near kisses in the wood. And try as he might, his mind continued to be on none other than Amanda as he attempted to sleep. And when he wasn’t thinking about Amanda, he was thinking about Chamberlain which would lead his thoughts inadvertently back to Amanda.

__

Before Amanda, he couldn’t remember ever taking so long to become closer to a woman in his entire life. In his past experience, they should be way past kissing, but then again, nothing about their relationship was normal. Not even their partnership in the agency. Hell, he’d asked for her help at the train station! Lee glanced at the clock and seeing that it was only 10, he wondered what time Amanda would be home. He decided to get up and watch some television.

__

//

__

“So, what have you been up to these past several months?” Alan asked Amanda as they sat in a local restaurant drinking coffee and cake.

__

Amanda told Alan about her life with the boys and her mother and some bits and pieces about the agency.

__

“However, did you become involved in this line of work?”

__

Quietly, Amanda explained about how the first day she met Lee when she was dropping her then boyfriend at the train.

__

“What an amazing story. And your family doesn’t know?”

__

“No, and you can’t tell anyone.”

__

“I won’t, I promise. You can trust me.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. “You won’t believe this, but I’ve wanted to call you so often but it felt awkward.”

__

“I know. I’ve wanted to reach out to you too!”

__

“I’ve only been in the states a few days, and have been trying to get up the nerve to contact you and then I saw you at the party and I couldn’t believe my luck.”

__

Their eyes never left one another as they caught up on one another’s life. “Oh, my, I hadn’t realized how late it was.” Amanda said looking at her watch.

__

“It’s only 10 o’clock. Even Cinderella had until midnight before she had to be home.”

__

“It’s only that I told my mom I would be home—“Amanda stopped herself. She’d stayed out later than this on more than one occasion; especially where IFF was concerned and even after she’d said she’d be home by a certain time. “You know what, you are right, even Cinderella had until midnight.”

__

Alan took this as a promising sign. Maybe Amanda and her partner were just partners and friends as she said. “What about some music and dancing? Where does one go for these things in your city?”

__

Amanda rambled off a few places that were not that far, quite a few were in walking distance so they wouldn’t have to move Alan’s car.

__

///

__

By midnight, Lee couldn’t help himself. He was really wondering by this point whether or not Amanda had made it home yet or not. He wanted to call and check but was afraid that he would either wake her mother or Amanda for that matter. Finally, he decided to take a chance. He figured that he would hang up after the second ring if no one answered, but just his luck Mrs. West answered on the first ring.

__

“Hello?”

__

“Oh, hi Mrs. West, this is Mr. Simpson.”

__

“Is Amanda alright?”

__

“Yes, I’m sorry to have awakened you.”

__

“I wasn’t sleep. I was watching an old John Wayne movie and—“

__

Lee knew where Amanda got her rambling from. “Oh, I see. Can you do me a favor and ask Amanda if she would call me once she makes it home?”

__

“I thought she was out with you at a film event.”

__

“We were, but we split up and she well, she met up with an old friend and they were going to bring her home.”

__

“Oh I see! I’ll be sure to tell her to call you.”

__

As Lee hung up, he hoped that he hadn’t started anything with her mother.

__

///

__

It was well after 2 AM when Amanda finally made it home. The lights were still on in the living room, a sure sign her mother was still up; or at the very least on the couch a sleep.

__

As they stood at her front door, he took her hands into hers and said, “Amanda, thank you for a wonderful evening and morning.”

__

“No, thank you. I had a wonderful time. Well, I guess I got lucky,” she looked down at her dress. “My dress remained in tack and I still have both my shoes.”

__

“I’m so glad. But at least I wouldn’t have had to try every house since I know where you live.” He gave her a great big smile as he moved closer. She moved closer towards him until their lips were touching in a soft, gentle yet passionate kiss. “Amanda, I would like to see you again soon.”

__

“I would like that.”

__

“Tomorrow, I mean today, too soon?” He asked as he looked at his watch.

__

She laughed. The boys were away at their father’s, so what was the harm? “What time?”

__

“What about 8 o’clock?” “Sure, I only need about five, five and a half hours of sleep,” she said with a laugh. Alan laughed as well and they kissed one more time before she walked in her house.

__

//

__

“Your boss from IFF called you a few times,” Dotty said as soon as Amanda walked into the house. “He wants you to call him as soon as you get home.”

__

“Did he say what he wanted?”

__

“Said he wanted to make sure you got home okay."

__

“Okay.”

__

“Amanda, where were you? I thought you went out with Mr. Simpson to an event. You must imagine how surprised I was when he phoned and wanted you to call him. When I asked what happened, he said that you ran into an old friend.”

__

“Yes, mother I went to an event with my supervisor, yes, I left and went out with a colleague.”

__

“What old colleague Amanda? Mr. Simpson said ‘old friend’.”

__

“You don’t know him mother. And I suppose you could call him a friend.”

__

“Amanda King!”

__

“Okay mother. His name is Alan Chamberlain and—“

__

“Alan Chamberlain? Hmm, the one who sent the corsage and the business card oh say a few months ago?”

__

“Yes, that’s right.”

__

“If memory serves me right, the two of you were out late that night as well.”

__

“Goodnight mother.”

__

“Amanda, please call Mr. Simpson or neither of us will get any sleep. I promised him you would call him the minute you walked in the door.”

__

“Yes, mother!“

__

“Goodnight Amanda!”

__

They both headed up the stairs.

__

“Goodnight Amanda!” She gave her a kiss.

__

“Amanda?” She called to Amanda as she headed towards her bedroom. “Are you going to see this colleague again?” Her mother asked as they neared their separate bedrooms.

__

“We’re having breakfast tomorrow, I mean today,” she said looking at her watch.

__

“Oh, I see! Goodnight Amanda.”

__

Amanda was about to lay down when she remembered Lee’s message. The phone rang several times and she was about to hang up when Lee picked up.

__

“Hello,” came Lee’s groggy reply.

__

“Lee, I know this is a crazy time to call, but mother said you wanted me to call--“

__

“Amanda? No, it’s okay.” Lee sprung up in bed, as recognition set in.

__

“Is everything okay?”

__

“Yes, I just wanted to make sure you made it home safe.”

__

“Yes, of course I did.” She didn’t know whether to smile or be annoyed with him. “Thanks for worrying but I’m fine. It is rather late, if there’s nothing else, I’ll see you on Monday!”

__

Lee was surprised for a moment. Normally he was the one to rush Amanda through a conversation no matter what time it was.

__

“Okay, goodnight.”

__

///

__

Lee lay his head back down upon his pillow and closed his eyes. As he did so, a sudden thought came to him. ‘Late,’ she’d said. What time was it exactly? He glanced around at the clock. 2 AM! What was Amanda doing coming in at 2 AM? _Well she’s come in later than that after a case with you. Well, that was different._ How was it different? It wasn’t as though they were dating or anything, though they have gone out to opera and to dinner several times in the past several weeks.

__

_Lee get a hold of yourself. What is your problem anyway?_

__

Lee knew he was being ridiculously silly but he couldn’t help himself. Come Monday morning everything would be back to normal. Whatever normal was Lee sighed to himself as his head hit the pillow and he fell fast asleep.

__

Or so he thought.

__

///

__


	5. chapter 5

“Billy, what do you mean Amanda can’t make it tonight?” Lee asked, as he sat in his supervisor’s office. 

“Just what I said, Scarecrow!” Melrose gave his top agent a sideway glance. 

“Did she say why she can’t make it?”

Billy shrugged. “Just that she had other plans already.” 

“Well, that’s not an acceptable reason.”

Billy looked long and hard at Lee. For about two weeks now, Billy had seen a change between his best team. Amanda seemed fine, but Lee, where his partner was concerned, was upset over the littlest thing and today he seemed particularly upset. Lee was wound tighter than Billy had ever seen him before, even on his worse day. 

“Why isn’t it acceptable, Lee? Is there something that you aren’t telling me?”

“Like what?”

“Like Amanda hasn’t been pulling her weight with your assignments.”

“No.” Lee had thought things would be normal, but he’d certainly been wrong about that. He supposed things were normal, but they weren’t the normal he’d come to love and expect with Amanda. It wasn’t as though she wasn’t doing her job or that she was late or anything, it was just that—“ 

“Lee?”

“It’s just that she isn’t her usual self.”

“Meaning?”

“Always willing to stay late or come in early or do extra work like going to this event tonight.” Exasperated, Lee threw his hands up in the air.

“Besides tonight, have you needed her to remain late and she hasn’t stayed?”

“No, but she usually is more accessible before and after work.” Lee ran his fingers through his hair as he looked around the office. Lee knew he sounded off even to his own ears. He really couldn’t say what the problem was because he didn’t exactly know what it was himself. It was just that ever since she started seeing Chamberlain--- 

“Oh?” He raised his eyebrow at his top agent. “Lee, Amanda, like all of us, does have a life outside of the agency. And normally she says yes to any assignment even in some cases where it has affected time with her children. Have you forgotten the time that she missed her son’s performance in Rumpelstiltskin or the times she risked her own life to save you and me for that matter?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” he said wearily. “So, who will my partner be tonight?” As if he didn’t already know.

“Francine, of course.” 

Again Lee was silent. 

“I remember the time you didn’t mind Francine as a partner and I also remember the times when you didn’t want a partner at all. What’s wrong with Francine as your partner?”

“Nothing, it’s just that I’ve gotten used to Amanda and never mind---“ It’s just that she isn’t Amanda.

“Are you sure?”

“Just tell me the set-up.” 

“Basic stuff, you’ll just attend a party tonight as a couple. Lee, I’ll need you to go into the office around 10 pm and grab the document. Don’t leave right away, stick around and mingle so it doesn’t look too obvious. Then you can go.”

“Okay.”

Melrose had already briefed Francine. Normally he would brief both parties at the same time, but he’d had a suspicion that Lee wasn’t going to be too happy working with her and it looked as though he was dead-on as usual. Billy wasn’t sure what was going on, but whatever occurred had happened sometime last week, somewhere between the Friday and last Monday. Lee was definitely out of sorts and for once it didn’t involve him coming in late after time spent with some woman. Amanda, on the other hand, was her usual cheery self and even cheerier, if that was at all possible. Tomorrow was Friday after all, so perhaps tomorrow would be a better day between the two.

He came out of his reverie and looked up at the sound of a familiar knock on his door. 

“Come in,” Billy answered.

Amanda glanced at Lee. “Lee,” then turned to Billy, “Sir!” 

“Hi, Amanda.”

“I was just about to leave, but wanted to see if you needed anything else before I go.”

“No, Amanda. Enjoy your evening.”

“Thanks, Sir!”

“Goodnight, Lee!”

“Goodnight?” Lee asked as he looked at the clock. “Amanda, you never leave before 4:30, unless something is going on with the boys or your mother.” Lee glanced at her with worry lines. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine. And that’s true, I usually am here past 4:30, but my hours are 8 to 4 and I have plans and I thought I’d leave on time instead of staying late like I usually do.”

“I suppose that’s fair, but aren’t you going to ask me if there’s anything else I need?” 

“Well, no Lee, not tonight. I’ve already done all the paperwork for the day and Mr. Melrose gave the okay already, so I figured I’m good to go.” Amanda looked over at their boss.

“That’s right, Amanda. Now get out of here and we’ll see you Monday.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Amanda said as she closed the door behind her.

After Amanda left, Lee turned to his superior. “You didn’t say that she was leaving early too.”

“I didn’t know I needed to tell you,” he replied gruffly but secretly was laughing at Lee’s responses to Amanda leaving early.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Like Amanda said, she usually does stay late, so technically she isn’t leaving early.”

“Well, normally I have to practically throw her out to get her to go home.”

Billy almost laughed at this comment. “Lee, what’s going on with you lately?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Lee ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I’d better go meet up with Francine.”

Melrose watched as Lee left his office. Something is definitely amiss with Lee and it has to do with Amanda. I better keep an eye on those two. With that thought, he turned to his desk and began working on some paper work.


	6. Chapter 6

“Alan, thank you so much. What a lovely surprise!” Amanda said, as they sat next to one another at the opera symposium. Who would have guessed that she would be here with Alan now? And to think that she’d almost told Mr. Melrose that she could do the undercover assignment after all! If she had changed her mind, she wouldn’t be here with one of the most exciting and attractive men she’d ever met...besides a certain spy she knew, a small voice reminded her. No Amanda, you won’t go there thinking about him tonight.  
She looked over at Alan. Their hands were still intertwined from when Alan had laced them together at the beginning of the performance. It was a little difficult to not think of Scarecrow though, considering the fact that the last time she’d gone to the opera was with Lee, of all people. That had been shortly after Alan had left with his sister, in fact. Speaking of Lee, he certainly was acting strange of late. She couldn’t understand him at all. One minute he was barley talking to her, the next he was getting upset about her leaving “on time”. She could remember a time when he didn’t want her there at all and certainly wouldn’t have minded her leaving early. But then today, he was acting like a crazy person or a jealous person. Naw! Why would he be jealous?  
“Amanda did you say something?” Alan asked from the seat next to her.  
“Just thinking out loud,” she replied.  
“Anything you want to talk about?”  
Amanda hesitated for a moment. “Just thinking about what a great surprise this was. Thanks again, Alan,” she said and reached over and kissed his cheek as the first act ended.  
“You are most welcome.” He squeezed her hand. “Do you want something to drink?”  
“Sure.”  
“I forgot to ask you, how was work today?” Alan inquired as they stood in the lounge drinking wine  
“Work was good but—“  
“What?”  
“Just that Lee seemed a little upset—“. She hesitated knowing that Alan already had some concerns as to just how close she and Lee really were.  
“Oh?” Alan raised an eyebrow.  
“Well, it’s just that he is used to me dropping most anything to help the Agency on a case. And then when I left at 4:00, he was doubly upset.”  
“Well, I would say that it is a good thing you have me in your life now to help balance your work and personal life.” He looked at her with those compelling eyes of his which caused her heartbeat to race just a little faster.  
“Mr. Melrose on the other hand was fine with it.” She rushed on to explain how accommodating her supervisor had been about it and how he had said that she certainly had stayed late on several occasions and that one missed night was the least they owed her.  
“Amanda?” As he listened to her, he had that feeling again that there was more between Amanda and her “partner” than she was letting on, but there was no denying the chemistry that he had with Amanda. He could see it in her eyes and feel it between them even now.  
“Yes, Alan?”  
As he began to speak, staff walked through the lounge to announce that the opera was about to resume.  
“We better get back to our seats,” Alan said.  
Amanda gave him a quizzical look.  
“I’ll ask you later.”  
Amanda and Alan walked back in and watched the remainder of the performance and as she did so, Amanda pushed any and all thoughts of Lee away from her mind completely.  
//  
“Scarecrow, it was just like old times.” Lee vaguely heard Francine say as he half listened to Francine talk as they sat at the bar of Emilio’s. Things had gone over well without any problems at all. He and Francine had mingled a bit and then he’d snuck out and retrieved the information from the safe as planned. The two of them then stayed a little longer before they’d decided it was time to leave. They had driven in his car and Lee had planned on taking Francine home, but she’d convinced him to stop for a few drinks. Now he wished they’d gone in separate vehicles. So, here he sat across from one of the most attractive and smartest women he’d ever known, yet his mind was on a certain brunette. He was still trying to figure out what Amanda had to do that evening that she couldn’t go on a job with him. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Wondering whether Amanda was home yet, Lee glanced at his watch yet again.  
“Come in Lee, Earth to Lee Stetson,” Francine said.  
“What?”  
“I was saying that this was just like old times. Wasn’t it great?”  
Yes, just super. “Yes, it was nice,” he replied.  
“Where is your mind tonight?”  
“Nowhere, I’m just tired.”  
“Are you getting old on me? I remember the time when we would have an all-night stake out and then go out to the clubs and get drunk.”  
“No, I’m not getting old on you. I guess I’m just not in the mood tonight. Amanda and I have a busy day tomorrow; I think I better call it a night.”  
Francine gave him a look. “Well, what about one more drink?”  
Lee hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Sure.”  
“Order me the same, will you? I’ll be right back.”  
Lee had just placed their order when he heard a woman laugh. He glanced towards the ladies’ room. God, what was taking Francine so long? Once again, a laugh resounded, an all too familiar one. Lee glanced towards where the sound was coming from, to the back of the restaurant. Oh, no, it couldn’t be!


	7. Chapter 7

Sure enough, there sat Amanda and Chamberlain in a corner booth; they were fairly hidden but visible enough for him to make them out. They sat side by side with her hand rested upon his.

Lee couldn’t believe this. First, he had to work with Francine and now here was Amanda and Chamberlain. Well, you got your answer, Lee, Amanda is not home, and she is out and with Chamberlain at that! And, don’t they look cozy! From the look of things, they appeared to have gone somewhere special. She was dressed in---oh really, you got to be kidding me! Not only was she out with another man, she was wearing the dress he thought she looked so hot in—the black one with the spaghetti straps. He had had the damnest time keeping his mind on their assignment that night and an even harder time keeping his hands to himself. There she sat now with Chamberlain, having herself a good old time, laughing at something that he said. He turned back to the bar, but kept slightly turned as he glanced back to the booth every now and then. Get a grip! Now you are acting just like a jealous person. Amanda had accused him of that once in their early days during a stake out.

“Who do you see?” Francine questioned as she returned to the bar and saw Lee look towards the back.

“Nobody.”

Francine followed his eyes to the back, “Oh my, Amanda and who is that with her? Alan Chamberlain!”

Lee gave Francine a pointed look. “Here, drink this, so we can get out of here.”

“Oh, you don’t want them to see us?”

“No,” he whispered.

Lee stood and threw some money on the counter, grabbed Francine’s hand and pulled her towards the door.

“I didn’t finish my drink, Scarecrow!”  
“I’ll buy you another one some time,” Lee whispered back.  
“You really aren’t any fun anymore.”  
“Maybe I’m not.”  
“I thought you said Amanda thought Chamberlain was 'as dull as a stick’. If he’s what she thinks is dull as a stick, I hate to see what she thinks exciting is.”  
Lee gave her another glare as he opened the car door for her.  
The ride to Francine’s apartment was made in complete silence.  
//  
As Amanda lay in bed, she thought about the remainder of the evening with Alan and she had to admit that the last two weeks had been quite wonderful. She loved being with him. There’d been a certain chemistry between them from the very start and these past weeks had only caused the attraction to grow. But what about Lee? A small voice asked.

As she continued to lie in bed and wait for sleep to come, she had to admit that once there was an attraction between herself and Lee. And on a few occasions they’d almost kissed, not to mention held hands a lot while out on cases. All this was before Alan. But there wasn’t anything going on between them that wasn’t just a mild flirtation. Or was there? Lee sure was acting strange now-a-days. She could have sworn she saw him and Francine at the restaurant and his car heading around the corner from her house as she and Alan drove up. Amanda, don’t be silly. Besides, Lee had better things to do than lurk around her house at night. Time for bed or she would be a total wreck for work and plans later that evening with Alan and her family.  
//  
If Lee looked as bad as he felt, he must look a wreck. He had driven over to Amanda’s and waited for a bit to see what time she would get in. By 1 AM, he’d left and they’d not arrived yet. What would he have said to them if they’d seen him? Besides, he’d reasoned, Amanda and he weren’t dating, so why was he so obsessed with her comings and goings?

As Billy began to talk, Lee glanced over at Amanda, and he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was and even for a night out late, she looked refreshed, and almost radiant. Her hair was down, her face seemed to have a glow, and the blouse she wore fit her nicely, but if he was honest with himself, there was definitely more to Amanda King than what was visible to the naked eye. Even from the very beginning, she was something else; daring, adventurous, dependable--

“Scarecrow, you with us?”

“What? I mean, yes, Sir!”

“Okay, Everybody, here’s what we have going on today.” Billy looked around the conference room and held Lee’s gaze a moment before he continued, “There was a robbery last night at Senator Lighthouse’s estate. It appears that some very special documents were taken, but the senator won’t say over the phone what was taken.” He turned his attention to Lee and Amanda. “I need you two to go by there and talk to all the staff. Francine, you call the security company and find out all you can about the time the alarm call came in, who was on call, et cetera.” He quickly handed out verbal orders to the others at the table. “Okay, everybody, get to work.”

As everyone left, Billy turned to Lee, “Lee, stay a minute!”

“Lee, I will meet you in the ‘Q’,” Amanda said.

“Yes, Billy?” Lee asked as the door closed and the last person left the room.

“Everything alright?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“You seemed distracted and you look a wreck, Man! You getting enough sleep?”

“I’m fine.”

“Okay, how did things go last night?”

“Things went well, without a hiccup.”

“Good. You do know that I am here if you need to talk about anything?”

“Yes, Sir!”


	8. Chapter 8

Back in the ‘Q’, Amanda was busy pulling paperwork when Lee walked in.

“Hey Lee, how did things go last night?”

“Things went well. Thank you for asking.”

Amanda gave him a quizzical look at his response that caused Lee to realize how harsh his reply must’ve sounded to her. “I’m sorry Amanda. I’m tired.”

“It’s okay Lee. You go out with Leslie after the party?”

“No, I didn’t go out with Leslie.”

“Oh, is there a new woman in your life?”

“I just didn’t sleep well. That’s all.”

She walked over and looked at his face as she placed a hand to his cheek to get a better look at his eyes. “You don’t look too well this morning. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

_Because of you._ He shrugged his shoulders. The simple touch caused a shiver to run up Lee’s spine.

“Well, perhaps you’ll sleep better tonight,” Amanda said as she turned back to her paperwork.

_I doubt it!_ “I hope so.” There was a few moments pause when Lee asked, “So, did you do something special last night?”

“Alan and I went to the Kennedy,” she said almost quietly.

“Where?”

“The Kennedy.” She replied, keeping her head downward.

“Oh, I see.” _So, not only did she wear MY dress for another man, she also allowed him to take her to the same place I took her. What else she might have let him do was also bothering his backside._ “Well, that must’ve been nice. The last time I was at the Kennedy was when you and I went—“

“It’s funny; I was thinking that last night.”

_Oh, she remembered._ “Yes, that was a fun night, remember?”

 "Yes, I do.”

_Hmm! Maybe they could go out again._ “Amanda, you know it’s been a while since we’ve hung out after work. What about dinner sometime soon?”

“That would be nice,” replied Amanda absently as she rummaged through the files.

“I know this is short notice, but what about tonight?”

“I’m sorry, but Alan is picking me up after work. My car is in the shop.”

“What happened to your car?”

“Just routine maintenance.”

“Well, that’s good, nothing major hopefully. Amanda, I could give you a ride home. It wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Thanks, but Alan is coming over for dinner anyway, so—“

_That nearly did it. Lee thought he just might blow a gasket at that._

“Yeah, he wants to meet mother and the boys.”

“Oh, you’re getting together so soon after being out with him so late last night.” “What?”

“I mean after seeing him last night.” He paused for a moment. “And, he is meeting your mom and the boys, so soon?”

“Well, Lee that’s what people do when they are getting to know one another.”

Lee starred at her.

“Well, I’d better get this paperwork pulled together so we can leave.”

“Yes.” Lee stood up from his desk. “I have a question for Billy. I think I’ll just go down and see if I can’t talk to him now.”

“Anything wrong?”

“Just have a question about our case.”

“Okay, hope he can help.”

“Me too!”

//

Billy watched as his top-notch agent walked back in his office and began to pace back and forth across the rug in Billy’s office.

“Lee, what’s up?”

“It’s Amanda!”

“What about Amanda?”

“She has been seeing this guy, they have been hanging out and now today he is coming over her house for dinner.”

“And?”

“It’s too soon. And besides now that Chamberlain is back, she doesn’t have time for me anymore.”

“Chamberlain?”

“The art historian.”

“His sister was kidnapped and the Agency helped save her?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Didn’t Amanda go out with him a few times—“

“Yes, for the Agency, “Lee finished.

“Oh I see!” _Billy was beginning to get the picture._

“And, well, she has been seeing him—“

“I didn’t know he was back.”

“Yes, and Amanda has been seeing him the past two weeks and they went out last night and are going out again and he is going to her house for dinner and meeting the family—“

Billy had to catch himself to keep from laughing as he listened to Lee have an Amanda ramble. “Well, Lee, Amanda is single.”

“But she and I had been hanging out for a while and getting to know each other.”

“Is there something else you need to tell me?”

“Like what?”

“Like you and Amanda were—“

“No but, Billy, I thought we were getting closer.”

“But Scarecrow, did _she_ know this?”

“Well, I hadn’t come out and told her, but—“

“Lee, how do you feel about Amanda?”

_How do I feel about her?_ “I guess that’s part of the problem, I’m not sure how I feel about Amanda. I mean, I do care about her, I’ve learned to appreciate her as a partner, and a friend, but how do I feel about her as a woman? Just think about it, me a confirmed bachelor who has had one woman after another falling, for a housewife?” He stood up then and began pacing around the room.   “Oh God, I’m beginning to sound like Francine.”

“Lee, it certainly sounds as though you have feelings for Amanda. Now, you need to decide how far those feelings go and just what exactly it is you want to do about them.”

“What is there to do? She obviously cares about Chamberlain or they would not be seeing so much of each other so soon.”

“Lee, you of all men should know what to do.”

          “But Billy, Amanda isn’t like the other women I’ve known in the past. Hell, Amanda isn’t like other women, period. I have to handle things differently with her.”

“That is true, Amanda _is_ different, but Lee, she is still a woman. Women like and need to feel desired. What have you done to show her that you want her?”

“Well, there was that time I had her over to dinner and we have gone out a few times here and there—“

“Look, Scarecrow, you’re an intelligence agent aren’t you and aren’t you one of the best when it comes to strategic combat?”

“Yes but—“

There was a familiar knock on the door.

Lee walked over and opened the door for Amanda.

“Sorry to interrupt, but you were taking so long and I thought that we should head out to the senator’s estate—“

“It’s okay, Amanda,” Billy interjected. “We had just finished up, right Scarecrow?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lee turned to Billy. “Thanks Billy, I think I know what I need to do now.”

“Anytime. Let me know how things work out.”

          “Is everything okay?” Amanda asked Lee as they left Billy’s office.

“Yes, just needed Billy’s help with something.”

“Amanda, here’s my keys. Go on downstairs; I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Okay, Lee, but hurry up!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“Hey Francine.”

“I was looking for you Scarecrow. About last night—“

“What about last night?”

“Darnest thing, I can’t seem to remember any of it.” She said with a wink as she held on tight to the large box of chocolate she found on her desk when she got in that morning.

“Good! And thanks, Francine.”

//

          By the end of the day, Lee was quite happy with how the day had gone. Although there had been several challenges with their case, his mood was much improved. First the Senator’s household had been anything but cooperative and it had taken longer than necessary to get the details of the burglary and what exactly had been stolen. Once Lee explained that the case seemed more like a situation for the police, the senator finally began to cooperate and told them what was really taken, some secret papers that implicated him in a sex scandal.

          Amanda noticed that Lee’s mood appeared quite changed when he made it back to their office. The two of them worked diligently for the remainder of the day. By 4:30 pm all necessary paperwork for the day was done. “Lee, I think I’ve done everything needed for the day. Lee,” she said sweetly, “is there anything else that you need me to do?”

_Stay._ “No, Amanda,” he said with a smile. “You can go now.”

“I just need to make a call.”

Lee busied himself with the paper at his desk while Amanda talked on the phone. “Something wrong, Amanda?”

“Hold on, Alan.”

“Alan is running late and isn’t sure when he will be able to pick me up.”

“That offer to give you a ride still stands.” Lee said, hopefully.

“I thought I’d just take a cab.”

“I’m heading out; it really wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Only if you’re sure, I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Amanda, I’m sure. It’s not as though you haven’t been in my car before for non-business.”

Amanda smiled at his comment. W _hy was she being so silly about a car ride?_

Amanda turned back to the phone and told Alan that Lee could give her a ride. There was silence on the phone for a minute before Alan gave a quick reply of "ok."

Amanda and Lee left shortly after she tidied her desk.

//

“Lee, thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome, Amanda!”

“Lee, can I ask you something?” Amanda ventured as Lee pulled up around the corner of Amanda’s house.

“Of course!”

“You know you haven’t been the friendliest to me the past few weeks, so I wasn’t so sure you giving me a ride was such a good idea.”

“You’re right, I have been a little disagreeable—“

“A little?”

“Okay, a lot.”

“Can you tell me why?”

Lee wished that he could just jump out of the car or have an out of body experience. “Well, I—it’s a little hard to explain.”

He took Amanda’s hand. “I guess I have just been a little taken aback by the fact that my partner has a life outside of a life with me.”

“Lee, what do you mean by that?”

Lee and Amanda stood outside of his car, just around the corner from her house.

“Amanda, it means that, I’m used to having you in my life and you have not been available—“

Amanda looked at Lee wordlessly, not quite sure what to say or how to respond. Lee reached up and touched Amanda’s cheek and ever so lightly there was a spark between them, something in her eyes.

“Lee—“

“Amanda! Stetson!” Alan yelled from his car, as he pulled up behind Lee’s car and he stepped out. “I was able to leave sooner than I thought.” He paused.

_Yeah, right!   Lee thought. I bet he rushed over here as soon as he heard that I was planning on giving Amanda a ride. But he couldn’t say he blamed him. He would have done the same after hearing that his woman was getting a ride with another man. Would you Stetson? You got it really bad._

“Hi, Chamberlain!”

“Stetson!”

Amanda looked from one to the other. “You two do know that you can call the other person by their first name?”

“Yes, I suppose I do,” Lee said reluctantly.

“Yeah, sounds kind of odd to be so formal,” Alan replied.

“Well, Lee,” Alan extended his hand to Lee. “Thanks for giving Amanda a ride home.”

“Yes, Lee, thanks,” Amanda reiterated.

“Amanda, you’re welcome,” Lee replied.

“Anytime and have a great weekend.”

“You too!”

Lee stepped into his car and watched through his rearview mirror as Chamberlain took Amanda’s hand and they walked the short distance to her house. Well, she may be with Chamberlain now, but Lee hadn’t missed the spark between Amanda and himself. It may be only a glimmer of hope, but it was hope nonetheless. With that thought, Lee pulled his car off and he headed home where he could start thinking about how he could proceed in his plot to woo Amanda.


	9. Chapter 9

It was Friday morning and it was the usual end-of-the-week staff meeting where everyone gave follow-up reports regarding their current cases. After everyone was finished, Billy said, “Everyone is dismissed, but Lee and Amanda, can you stay behind a moment?” After everyone left, he continued, “Your overnight assignment has been postponed, for now. Our contact bailed out at the last minute.” Lee and Amanda stood directly in front of him; he watched as Lee’s face fell.

“Okay, Sir, thanks for letting us know,” Amanda said.

“Yes, thanks,” Lee responded absently.

“I’ll let you both know when it’s been reassigned,” and as they made their way to leave, Billy added, “Lee, can you stay for a moment?”

“Sure,” Lee turned to Amanda. “I will see you back in the Q in a few.”

Amanda gave the two of them a sideways glance. “Sure, Lee. Sir.”

Amanda exited Mr. Melrose’s office but as she walked down the hallway, she could not help but wonder what exactly was going on with Mr. Melrose and Lee. For the past few weeks, Lee was constantly in and out of Billy’s office. Supposedly, each time, it had to do with one case or another that they were working on, but Lee never came back with anything concrete or significant to say about their current cases and right now, they weren’t working on anything that warranted that much support and---”

“Amanda, what’s going on?”

“What?” Amanda looked around at Francine who was walking down the hallway. “Oh, sorry, Francine, just thinking.”

“Thinking what? I know I should have a snappy comment like ‘what could a housewife from Arrington possibly have to think about? ‘Oops,” she held her hand up to her mouth. “I did it anyway. Sorry.”

“Francine, I have work to do.”

Francine reached out and touched Amanda’s arm. “No, seriously, what’s the matter?”

“Well, it’s not actually a problem, but have you noticed just how often Lee’s been in Mr. Melrose’s office lately?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, I suppose he has.”

“Don’t you think it’s odd?”

“Yes, it---” Francine paused as the box of chocolates she had been holding slipped from her hands.

Amanda reached down along with Francine to retrieve the box.

“What do you have there? More chocolate, Francine?”

“Yeah, I don’t know, maybe...”

“What is this, your third box in about three weeks? Who did you say they were from?”

“I don’t think I said.” Francine looked around nervously, but then pulled her composure together. “Well, I better be going.”

“But what about Lee?”

“Well, perhaps he’s getting sick. I have to get down to, uh, purchasing.”

_What was that all about?_ As Francine walked off, Amanda glanced back to Billy’s office, shook her head, as she went down to the Q Bureau, even more puzzled than before.

//

Meanwhile, in his office, Billy asked Lee, “So, what have you done so far?”

“Each day I’ve written Amanda a note and left it out in different places for her to see. Nothing mushy, I don’t want to come on too strong, just something light like, _thank you for doing a great job_ , _thanks for always being willing to stay late_ ,” Lee chuckled when he read the second one. “Just stuff like that.”

“Nice. What else?”

“And then I’ve given her little gifts, like a coffee thermos for when we are jobs off site, I brought in a heater after I saw how cold she got one day in the office. And I have brought her a plant.”

Billy sat at his desk and looked across at Lee in admiration. “Well done, Son.”

“I was anticipating us having some down time during the overnighter, but now that has been cancelled---” Seeing the look on Billy’s face, he quickly amended his statement. “Billy, strictly dinner and maybe dancing after hours.”

His supervisor didn’t say anything. He knew Lee’s penchant for the ladies, and he was well aware of how often Lee had abused his overnighters while out with an agent or two or three, but he always got his assignments done. And, besides, he knew that things were different with Amanda, even if Lee himself wasn’t quite aware of just how deep his feelings were for the housewife from Arlington, just yet. Melrose turned his attention back his best agent.

Lee added, “I was looking forward to that.” They hadn’t done an overnight assignment in quite some time most definitely not since _lover boy_ had come to town.

“I got it.” Billy’s snapped his fingers. “How about you just ask her out?”

“I’m game but—it depends on whether or not _Chamberlain_ will want to see her now that she is available.”

“Good point.”

“I could just lie and say we still have the stakeout,” Lee said with a gleam in his eye.

“You could—“ Billy scratched his chin.

“Billy?”

“Well, all is fair in love and war.”

Lee gave his supervisor a bewildered look; not quite sure whether or not Billy was serious or kidding.

“I’m just kidding,” Billy laughed.

“Me, too. You had me worried there for a minute.” Lee turned to leave, “Well, I better go before Amanda wonders what’s taking me so long and comes back.”

“Good luck!”

//

Back in the Q Bureau, Amanda was on the phone.

“Yeah, I just made it back in the office…I’m glad your trip is going well. Where will I be staying for the overnight assignment? It was the Hyatt. Yeah, it’s been cancelled.” Amanda could almost see Alan’s smile through the phone.

Lee opened the door to his and Amanda’s office and stood quietly for a moment, before he walked in and sat at his desk.

“I’m glad you’re so broken up over my not going away this weekend.”

_He’s probably jealous. But Lee couldn’t blame him._

“But you do know that it has only been postponed, not cancelled and in my line of work, it will happen again.”

Lee smiled silently to Amanda’s remark; paused and gently closed the door behind him. _Good for her. She might as well let him know how things are._

Lee sat down at his desk, took some sips from his coffee mug as he looked at some recent case reports.

“Yes, I suppose I could’ve come with you for the weekend after all.”

Lee spat out the coffee that he was in the process of drinking. _Oh, shit, was he too late?_ Lee held up a hand to still Amanda who looked at him with concern in her beautiful brown eyes.

“No, I don’t have any plans; probably go home and read a book or something.”

_Wait, maybe there was hope for me yet._

“Well, I better go. Okay, I’ll call you later this evening and yes, I miss you too.”

_Oh, hell! She didn’t bat an eye or pause when she said it. Pull it together, it’s not like she said she loved him or anything and besides, like Billy said, ‘it’s all fair in love and war”._ And until she told him something different, he would keep up the good fight.

“So, I take it Chamberlain, I mean Alan was glad to hear that you and I weren’t going away this weekend,” he surmised with a smile.

“I wouldn’t say he was elated, but he certainly wasn’t sad, except for the fact that if not for our stakeout, we might’ve had different plans. And, don’t say it like that. You and I were only going away for business not pleasure.”

_That’s what you think._

There was silence for a moment before Amanda asked, “So, was Mr. Melrose able to answer your question?” Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah!”

“What was it that you needed to ask him again?”

“Oh, it wasn’t a question exactly; it was more of some follow-upon one of our assignments.”

“Which assignment, Lee?”

Lee picked up some paperwork that was on his desk, opened it. “Oh, you know, Billy had a few last minute questions about Senator Lighthouse’s case.”

Although Amanda did not say anything, she knew for a fact that Lee was lying now. That case had been put to rest over a week ago. She didn’t know what he was up to, but she was going to keep up until she figured exactly what it was.

“I suppose your mother and the boys will be happy to hear that you are free now.”

“Well, my mother is going away for the weekend and the boys are at a sleepover until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I suppose Alan will be happy to hear that you won’t be going away with me and that you are now free for the weekend.”

“You know perfectly well I said he was out of town.”

Lee smiled revealing his dimples. “Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

“Lee Stetson, what are you up to? I know that fluff about follow-up on the senator case is a bunch of ‘bull’.”

“Billy really did need to talk to me.”

Lee stood in front of Amanda’s desk and placed a hand on one of her arms. “Well, since you are still free, I was wondering if you and I could hang out--you know like two regular people, friends.” As he saw her hesitate, he flashed his pearly whites and went on, “It has been a long time since we’ve hung out.”

“Well, what did you have in mind?” This was her chance to find out what he has been up to.


	10. Chapter 10

Friday night, or rather, Saturday morning, Lee lay across his bed entirely in the nude with a hard-on, more restless than ever before with no chance of being satisfied in sight. The thought of bringing himself to completion with his own hands was not an option nor was the thought of any other woman, for the truth of the matter was that there was only one way to satisfy what was ailing Lee and that had to do with Amanda. And not just for one night, but for many days and nights. He’d realized during their crazy evening together that besides deeply caring for her, he was hopelessly and impossibly in love with her.

As he lay upon the sheets, his mind drifted back to the evening. Although Amanda had wanted to drive and meet him at the restaurant, a little Italian place that he had convinced her to allow him to pick her up and drive her there. He had felt as though he’d have leverage over the evening that way. They had eaten amicably at the restaurant and shared some nice conversation. She’d been dressed in a simple skirt with a top and matching jacket but as the evening wore on, she’d become a little warm.

_Lee was in the process of saying something when she took the jacket off which revealed a slim tank top that hugged against Amanda’s skin nicely. He knew he was giving her quite a stare because he thought he saw a slight blush upon her face. The top itself was not sexy, yet somehow, was provocative against Amanda’s slim body somehow._

_“Lee, are you okay?”_

_“Yes, I’m fine.”_

_He managed to regain his composure as the evening continued.   They talked about how the boys were doing in school and how Amanda’s mom was still battling with her driving lessons._

_“Has she ever thought of trying to learn to do something else?”_

_“Like what?”_

_“Learn how to fly an airplane perhaps?” Lee had smirked and gave her one of his award winning smiles._

_“Yeah, only if she wants to score with the flight instructor.”_

_“Amanda King!”_

_“Well, let’s face it, if Howard had been a little more appealing, she would probably have her driver’s license right now.”_

_“Oh come on, she isn’t that bad.” Lee tried to say that with a straight face, but somehow ended up laughing causing Amanda to laugh as well. Things were back on track until he decided to ask her to dance on the small dance floor where other “couples” were in the middle of the restaurant floor._

_The initial songs had been quite pleasant and up-beat in tempo. But when the third song came on, it was slow and sensual in nature, his mind had said, “Lee leave” but somehow he found himself pulling her in his arms and it was all he could do not to pull her even closer and kiss her right there on the tiny dance floor. The feel of her small, slender body in his arms was almost more than he could stand; the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest and the softness of the material, well, it took all his composure to make it through the song and find his way back to the seat without Amanda knowing just how much the dance had affected him._

_And when he thought the evening couldn’t get any worse, he spilled a drink on himself while doing his best disdained Francine impression._

_“That’s what you get, Lee!” Amanda teased between giggles._

_“My shirt is soaked; I suppose we should get out of here. I can drop you off and then head home.”_

_He was disappointed; he’d hope to stay out a little longer with her._

How much worse could things get, _he thought as he walked Amanda to her door. He had forgotten what the colonel always said, “’Son, don’t ever ask how much worse can things get?’”_

_“Lee, you know I can dry your shirt for you. I’m sure I might have something around here you can put on until your shirt dries.”_

_It took a lot of convincing to a very determined Amanda to not take her up on her offer. He stepped away to leave, but then turned around and said, “Thanks, Amanda for a perfectly good evening. I had a wonderful time.” And, in that instance, their eyes had met and held._

_“Amanda, I’ve—“_

_“Lee—“_

_They both said the other person’s name simultaneously._

_“Yes, Amanda?_

_“What’s going on with you?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I mean,” she waved her hand in a swooping motion, “like tonight.”_

_“I, well, have been--’’_

_As Lee stood there and attempted to get the words from his mind to his lips, her phone rang._

_“Go on,” he waved his hand. “What if it’s the boys or your mother?”_ Okay, Lee oh boy, you are just stalling now.

_Amanda reluctantly picked up the phone._

_"Oh, hi, Alan…I’m sorry, I was supposed to call you.”_

Oh, damn, I shouldn’t have let her get it.

_“Well, Lee and I had dinner since we didn’t have to go on the overnighter…Well, yes; he was just dropping me off…”_

_Oh, I wonder what he had to say to that._

_Lee continued to stand there, his shirt cold against his skin, Lee stared deep into Amanda’s eyes; desperately hoping the phone conversation would stop soon somehow, whether via hypnosis or a power outage, and he didn’t much care how it happened, only that the conversation between Alan and Amanda would end. And just as he’d been about to unplug the phone cord himself, the worse part of the evening had happened when Amanda said, “Yes, I love you too. Okay, goodnight.”_

_With that, Lee stood there rooted to the floor as Amanda asked him, “Now where were we? You were trying to tell me why you’ve been acting well--so strange.”_

         

 


	11. Chapter 11

Now as Lee lay in his bed, he'd been remembering just how excited he'd felt holding her on the dance floor and had imagined her saying "those words" to him. _But she didn't,_ a taunting voice in his head reminded him. _She said them to **him.**_ That did it. That thought alone was like throwing a bucket of ice water on him. As he reflected on the evening, he couldn’t exactly remember what he’d said to get him out of there, only that it had resembled something along the lines of feeling ill and that he needed to go home with the promise to pick up the conversation the next day. That had been three hours ago and now here he lay in his empty and lonely bed wondering if it was too late for him and Amanda. Not only had she mentioned the fact that the two of them could’ve gone away, she’d said those three little words to _Chamberlain_. Those three little words that Lee had never said to anyone but now realized that was exactly what he wanted and needed to say to Amanda. With the image of Amanda in his mind, he turned the words “I love you, Amanda” over in his head as he drifted off to sleep still wondering if it was too late.

Monday morning, Amanda walked swiftly across the hallway of the IFF offices as she looked for any signs of Lee, as her mind mulled over the events of Friday evening.

Amanda King I can’t believe you said that. With Lee right there to boot.

And what in God’s name was going on with him? Inquiring minds certainly wanted to know.

She’d spent a restless weekend trying to fathom what exactly it was that Lee had wanted to say to her. For all practical purposes, he was acting like a man in love, but Lee couldn’t be trying to say I love you, not to anyone, but especially not to her. And speaking of ‘I love you’ had she really told Alan that she was in love with him as well? _Are you in love with Alan?_ The question had played around in her head until she’d fallen to sleep. Amanda was so lost in thought that she hadn’t realized that she was about to run smack dead into….

“Amanda King, would you please watch out where you’re going?”   Came Francine’s irritated voice as Amanda ran into her.

“Francine, I’m so sorry,” she apologized, completely flustered.

Francine opened her mouth as if to give further rebuke, but something in Amanda’s eyes made her change her mind. “Amanda, what’s going on?” She asked as she grabbed Amanda’s by the arm and moved to the side of the double doors.

It was like the dam had broken and opened up. “Do you know what is going on with Lee? I mean one minute he is being all suave, the next he was clumsy as all get out, attentive during dinner and dancing, but evasive and almost dismissive. He has been acting like someone---someone trying to woo someone, then to add to this, Alan says he loves me over the phone with Lee of all people listening.”

“What?”

“And to add to that, I said ‘I love you’ back!”

“My God, what next, your ex will be coming back and saying he is still in love with you?”

“Francine, I know you know something,” Amanda ventured, ignoring Francine’s comment. “and I want you to tell me what it is right now.” She gave her a pointed look. “And, why do you have another box of chocolate in your hands?”

“Okay, Amanda,” Francine looked from left to right, “if you breathe a word to Lee, I will deny that I said anything.” Upon seeing Amanda give a nod, she continued and quietly told Amanda about the night that they had gone on a job and how Lee had acted afterwards after seeing Amanda at the restaurant.

“Oh, my gosh!”

"Well, I gotta go!” Francine rushed down the hall in the opposite direction of where Lee was quickly approaching down the hall.

“Good morning, Amanda!”

“Lee, we have to talk.”

“My sentiment, exactly!”

“But not here,” he took her hand, “Let’s go step outside for a moment.”

“Okay, Lee!”

With hands folded across her chest, Amanda turned to face Lee as they stood out front of the IFF offices. “Is it true that you saw Alan and me out a few weeks ago and you became so flustered that you rushed Francine out of the restaurant?”

“She told you?”

“Just answer the question," she demanded. "And don’t be too angry with her, I made her tell me.”

“Well, yes—“

“And that you have been buying her fancy chocolates to keep her quiet ever since?”

“Well, yes but—“

“Why?”

“Because Amanda King,” he said as he grabbed hold of her two hands and turned her to face him. “I’m in love with you.”

“Oh, my gosh!”

“Amanda, I’m sorry, I had hoped to not tell you this just yet. I wanted to woo you and get you to see that you have feelings for me as well, but then—“

“Lee, when did you suddenly decide that you were in love with me?”

“Can we please go somewhere and talk?”

Amanda glared at Lee and as she strode up the walk toward the street.

“Wait up!”

“Look, I don’t know if I can talk to you right now,” but then turned back to him and questioned, “Who does this?”

“Does what?” Truly not understanding, Lee reached out and touched her arm.

Amanda pulled her arm back, “Waits until a person is involved with someone else to tell them how they feel.”

“Well, at least I didn’t wait 'til you were at the altar to tell you,” he joked but saw that his attempt at humor inflamed the situation more.

“Well, what exactly do you expect me to say or do now? I've got a boyfriend and you've got a girlfriend."

“I can’t say that I’m expecting anything out of you, though there are a lot of things I’m hoping for. And for the record, I don't have a girlfriend anymore. To tell you the truth, I stopped seeing Leslie when it became clear that I had feelings for you."

Amanda stared at Lee in disbelief. “This is just too much for me to handle right now,” she said, as she turned away and walked quickly onto the main street with Lee directly behind her.

“Lee, no more, right now,” she called behind her. “I need time to think about this.”

“But Amanda---“

She rushed on across the street to where her car was parked. As she did so, the sound of car tires screeching behind her and a scream caused her to halt and turn around to see what had happened.

Amanda’s hand went up to her mouth at the sight of Lee sprawled out in the middle of the street. “Lee!”

 


	12. Chapter 12

Amanda rushed over to Lee who was sprawled out in the middle of the street. “Lee!” Amanda called out, eyes full of anguish as she kneeled at his side. She felt as though her heart had nearly stopped beating as she waited for a response.

“Amanda.” Lee choked out softly. Even though it probably took only a few seconds for Lee to reply, to Amanda it seemed like hours.

          “Thank God! You had me so worried! Are you okay?” Amanda held out a hand to Lee as he attempted to sit up.

          “Lee, be careful! Maybe we should wait for the paramedics.”

          “No, I don’t need to wait for a paramedic. You know how much I hate doctors.” Lee grunted as he attempted to stand up only to groan and almost double over as he felt a sudden sharp pain in his left ankle.

          “Well, I see, you didn’t hurt your tongue.” She continued to support him as he sat up. “Lee, you---“

          Amanda’s words were cut off as a tall gentleman ran over to where Lee and Amanda were. “Are you okay?” He looked down at Lee.

          “I’m fine,” Lee answered.

          The man turned to Amanda. “What about you? Are you okay?”

          “I’m fine but we need to get him a doctor, he’s in pain. Can you go over there to the offices of IFF and have them ask for a Mr. Billy Melrose? They can call the paramedics.’

          “Sure,” came the reply, as he hurried over to IFF.

          Lee gave out a few more grunting sounds as he watched Amanda take control of the situation. Even if he wouldn’t admit it to her, he knew she was right.

          Amanda now returned her attention to Lee.

          By this time, several individuals were crowded around them.

          “Well, you’ve done it this time Scarecrow! You probably have a fracture!”

          “ _I’ve_ done it, Amanda King?”

          “It’s your fault for following me when I said to stop.”

          “If you had stopped and listened to me further I wouldn’t have run after you. And look who’s calling the kettle extra black?” When Amanda gave him a quizzical look, Lee replied. “You should know all about not leaving when someone asks you to stay.”

          “Well, I’m always of help when I don’t stay.”

          Lee gave her a pointed look.

          “Well, most of the time,” Amanda amended.

          As Billy hurried over to Amanda and Lee, he watched and listened to the exchange of his top team. Even during an accident, they managed to argue and bicker back and forth like some old married couple. _Well, let’s see what happened this time._

          “Lee, are you okay?” he inquired.

“A little pain in my ankle, that’s all; probably nothing to worry about.”

“Sir, I think he’s fractured his ankle," Amanda jumped in."And even though Lee isn’t saying it, I’m sure he’s in more than a little discomfort.”

Billy suppressed a smile at Amanda’s ability as always to read Lee so well.

“Well, we’ll soon find out if he has a fracture. I assume the paramedics have been phoned,” he directed at Amanda.

“Yes, Sir!”

“Well, can someone explain to me what happened?”

“Billy, it was all my fault!” Lee said.

“No, Sir, it was my fault.” Amanda interjected. “Lee and I were having a conversation, well, Sir, it was actually an argument of sorts and I kept walking even though Lee asked me to stop—“

“But Billy, I wasn’t watching where I was going and didn’t see---“

“Enough!” Billy held his hand up and looked from one agent to the other. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Look, here are the paramedics, you can explain later. In the meantime, I’m going back to the office to let Francine know what happened. I’ll pull the proper paperwork and bring it with me to the hospital and I will meet you there. Amanda, I expect you will go over with Lee and then remain until he is settled.”

“Of course, Sir! But can you call my mother and explain to her that I‘m at the hospital helping out a friend and co-worker?”

“Sure, Amanda. Oh, and Amanda, I can give you a ride back here to get your car.”

“Thank you, Sir, but I’ll probably catch a cab back.”

“Well, sure, if you choose.”

“Thank-you, Sir!”

Billy left and Amanda followed into the ambulance alongside Lee.

There was a moment of silence as Lee was lifted into the ambulance and settled in the back. As they proceeded towards the hospital, Amanda glanced over at Lee as the paramedic got the details of the accident. As Lee explained how the accident happened, Amanda felt a little pang of guilt cut across her chest as she realized that Lee could’ve been seriously hurt—or even killed--because of her.

“It’s okay,” Lee’s voice broke through her thoughts, almost as if he had read her mind.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, Amanda, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“Lee, you really scared me.”

“I scared myself,” he confessed.

“You're my partner. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”

_I want to be so much more than that._ “That’s right, I’m your partner.”

“I remember the time you didn’t want me as a friend, partner or anything.”

“I wouldn’t say that's true.” At the look on her face, Lee said, “Okay, it _was_ true, but that was before I really got to know you.”

Amanda couldn’t help it, for all her thoughts earlier of being angry and just downright upset with Lee, now all she could think about was how happy she was that he was okay. “Does it hurt much?”

Lee grimaced when Amanda reached out and touched his left ankle. “Yes.”

          “You’ll have something for the pain soon.”

          “Amanda, about what I said earlier—“

          “Yes?”

          Lee looked around at the small confines of their space, the medic right there beside him, but decided to proceed anyway. “I meant what I said, ‘I am in love with you’.”

“Are you sure, Lee? Not so long ago you were involved with Leslie.”

“That's true, but I never said I loved Leslie. Amanda, you know that I don’t use the words ‘I love you’ lightly.”

Knowing the truth of that statement, she nodded in agreement. “But why didn’t you tell me that you two had broken up?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just wasn’t ready to fully admit how I felt. The fact that I inadvertently called her by your name left me—“

“You called her by my name?”

“Yes, when you left and she and I were about to sit down for a drink,” he said quietly.

“So, that’s why you didn’t go with her to the Embassy.” That sure explained a lot. That was the night Lee and Amanda had had dinner, no shop talk, at his place that night.

          “Amanda, I know this is awkward as hell and that this probably isn’t the best time to talk about this, but can you honestly tell me you don’t feel anything for me?” Lee grabbed a hold of one of Amanda’s hands.

Amanda was silent for a moment. There had been some times in the past when she'd felt a connection between herself and Lee. Even now, if she was totally honest with herself, that feeling was still there between them; that something that just couldn’t be explained, but was she in love with him? And then there was the little matter of Alan. How did she feel about Alan? _Amanda, one dilemma at a time._ “Lee, I will admit that there have been some times when I have felt a chemistry between us, but for so long _you_ never acted on it and now I’m in a relationship with Alan and this”—she waved her hand, “sudden declaration you just made is something that I need to think about. You do know that _this_ complicates things.”

“Complicates what things?”

“Our working together.”

“I suppose it does. Are you trying to tell me that you can no longer work with me?” Lee looked away, the thought of not working with her caused him more sadness than he’d ever imagine.

She touched his cheek which forced him to turn back around and look at her. “No, we are both professionals but it may make things awkward for a while.”

“I suppose you’re right.” There was another moment of silence, when Lee asked, “Are you in love with Alan?” At Amanda’s arched eyebrow, Lee went on, “I heard you tell Alan that you loved him the other night—do you love him?”

“Yes, I love him.”

Silence overtook them in the vehicle as they drove the remaining distance; both of them focused on their own thoughts.

_But you didn't answer my question about being in love with him_ , Lee wanted to argue, but decided against it. Had he been wrong to convey what he was feeling? Was he wrong about her having some feelings for him? But now wasn’t the time pursue the matter further. He would just have to give her some time to sort out her feelings.

Amanda couldn’t imagine not working with Lee. If she and Lee didn’t work together, who would she work with and would she remain at the agency at all? And what was Alan going to think?

They were silent the remainder of the ride as they both dwelled on their own thoughts. When they arrived at the hospital, they were ushered into the emergency room area. Amanda remained in the waiting room while Lee was evaluated. Billy arrived just shortly after Lee had been assigned a room and had been thoroughly examined and given a cast for his ankle.

          “Amanda, Lee,” Melrose greeted them as he entered the room and took a seat.

Both of them greeted him in turn, then Amanda said, “Sir, Lee can fill you in on all the details; but as you can see by his cast, he has a fractured ankle and will need rest for at least two weeks.” Amanda looked pointedly at Lee when she explained about him needing rest.

“Thanks, Amanda; we’ll see that he gets that rest.”

“Sir, I’d like to call my mother and give her an update if that's okay.”

“Sure, Amanda.”

Once Amanda had exited the room, Billy turned to Lee.

“Okay Scarecrow, spill it. What happened?”

Lee filled in the pieces of the story. “Amanda was so angry with me, Billy, that she told me to stop talking and walked off,” Lee continued, as he wrapped up the details of the incident. “And in my hurry to catch up with her to continue the conversation, I didn’t see the car coming until it hit me and knocked off my feet with enough impact to be thrown up in the air and land on my ankle, hence the fracture.” Melrose didn’t know whether to laugh or cry for Lee.

“So now what?”

“I don’t know.” Lee ran his fingers through his hair. “And to add to this, she told Alan over the phone this past weekend that she loved him.”

“What!?!”

“Well, Alan apparently said it and she answered him back with an 'I love you' of her own.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean she’s in love with him.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Well, Lee, the way I see it, it's still love and war until—“

“Sir!” Amanda interrupted as she reentered the room. “If you don’t need me for anything else this evening, I need to go.”

 

          “I understand, just one thing. Lee has filled me in on the situation. I know that things are awkward between you two right now, but Lee will need someone to help him out the next few weeks. I could find someone or ask Francine—“

          “Billy, God, no!” Exclaimed Lee.

          “Sir, I will do what you tell me to do—“she looked over at Lee. “I know what kind of patient Lee can be, I have helped him in the past, so I’m sure I’m best qualified to deal with him.”

“Well, thanks.”

“But if you give me a hard time—“ Amanda looked pointedly at Lee and then turned to Billy “I’ll ask you, Sir, if I can be reassigned temporarily.”

“That sounds fair.” Billy agreed.

          “Amanda, I swear, I will be on my best behavior,” Lee promised.

          “Sir, if we're done here, I’ll go.” Amanda informed their superior.

          “You sure you don’t want a ride?” Billy offered.

          “Yes, I’m sure, I’ve already phoned a cab and they will be here shortly.”           “Okay, then.”

          “Thanks, Sir!” Amanda then turned to Lee. “Goodnight, Lee!”

          “Amanda, what time should I expect you tomorrow?” Lee inquired.

          Amanda let out an exasperated sigh. “Lee, as soon as you call and let me know when you are being released, I’ll come right over to the hospital and, then get you settled in at your apartment.”


	13. Chapter 13

After Amanda left, Lee turned to Billy, “Would you really assign Francine to me?” “Yes.”

  
“And I thought you were my friend.”

“I am, but you know Amanda, even if you gave her a hard time, she probably wouldn’t quit on you.”

Lee wasn’t so sure about that. There was that time when he’d been at his worst behavior and Amanda had written a resignation letter. But he’d intercepted it and he and Amanda had thrown the letter away.

Billy continued. “But you just better not do anything for us to have to find out or I will assign you Francine. She is a great agent, but I’m not sure about her playing nursemaid.”

Lee would agree with him there.

“So, if you don’t mind my asking, how did you and Amanda leave things?” Billy asked Lee as he got up to leave.

“That she had to think about things and also that she was seeing Alan.”

“Well, what are you going to do?”

Lee was silent for several minutes before he answered honestly, “I don’t know, but I'll think of something.”  
//  
Finally, Amanda had a chance to think about the events of the day. As she lay in bed and attempted to read the romance novel that she’d started last month, her thoughts couldn’t help drifting to Lee’s declaration of love that morning. Now, he would be laid up for at least two weeks and she would be responsible for assisting him during that time. Amanda, what are you so worried about? It wasn’t as if she didn’t work with him closely already. They’d been on a few assignments where they were paired as husband and wife, hell, once they even were married, even though at the end of the day, it wasn’t valid—so, why was she so concerned now?

She’d been so distracted during dinner, her mother had asked her several times if everything was okay, to which Amanda had simply replied that everything was fine, just that she was worried about her co-worker. The truth of the matter was that she was concerned about Lee, but she was more concerned about what she was going to say to Alan, whom she’d been dating over a month now and whom she would have dinner with the next evening. Alan! She’d thought about giving him a call, but decided that one more night wasn’t going to make much difference; besides she needed the time to think. Think about what, Amanda? To think about whether or not you have feelings for Lee or not, a small voice answered. You care for him as a friend, that’s all. It was this thought that ran through her head as she willed her mind to calm down and to go to sleep.  
//  
“What are you doing here?” Lee questioned Francine, as she walked into his hospital room. “I thought Amanda was supposed to pick me up.”

“And, good morning to you too! Amanda had to do some follow-up on one of your assignments and sent me to come and pick you up instead. She’ll be along shortly at your place.”

“So, Lee, what happened?”

“Isn’t it rather obvious?”

“I mean you’re an operative, you are supposed to have great reflexes. You didn’t jump out of the way when you saw the car coming towards you?”

“Well, apparently I didn’t see the car!” Came Lee’s disgruntled reply as he glared at her. “Thanks a lot for not blowing my secret. So much for bribing you with chocolate.”

“I’m sorry, but Amanda pressured me to tell her.”

"And you call yourself an agent, but you can't withstand a little pressure from a housewife?" he retorted.

“Okay, okay, I don’t know, she seemed in a fit to know what was going on with you and seemed so upset about it, I wanted to help her. And, if you tell her that I was concerned about her, I’ll kill you with my bare hands myself. But enough about that,” she said as she sat down next to him in her car. “What gives? I know you appeared to be insanely jealous the other night at the restaurant but is there more to the story?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“You might as well tell me. You know Amanda will tell me if I ask her.”

“Alright! I told Amanda that I’m in love with her.”

Francine’s look was incredulous. “Well, Scarecrow, when you fall, you fall hard. A housewife from Arlington. And what pray tell did she say to that?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Yeah, I bet it’s complicated with Alan Chamberlain in the picture. Nothing against you Lee, but personally, I’m putting my money on Chamberlain.”

“Why?” he demanded petulantly and folded his arms across his chest.

“Well, come on Lee, you may be handsome and suave, but Chamberlain is well, how do I say this?”

“Just spit it out already.”

“He’s more settled. Yeah, I know he is an eligible bachelor as well, but Lee, Amanda hasn’t had to watch him for three years go through one woman after another. She probably has a different image of him than she has of you or will ever have of you.”

“Well, thanks Francine. Can we just get going?”

“Okay, Scarecrow.”

By the time Amanda made it to Lee’s place, he was in a foul mood and fit to be tied. Not only did he have to listen to Francine go on and on about “his situation” as she called it, any little request he asked her to help with seemed to take forever. Would Amanda hurry up and get there already? Just when he thought he was at his wits' end, she knocked on the door and hurried in bringing with her not only some leftovers, but also her usual array of freshness and his bad mood all but dissipated.

“Hi, Lee, Francine.“ She rushed in, a bag of food in one hand and a load of magazines and books in the other. “Sorry, I’m late. Mr. Melrose and I had to look over our cases to see which ones I could still work on and if any needed to be reassigned. Most of the cases just need follow-up, mostly paperwork stuff but there might a few where he’ll want to partner me with someone.” Amanda stopped herself. She could tell by the look on Lee’s face that he was none too happy about someone else working on his cases. “I brought some food. There’s enough for you too Francine, but I know Billy wants you back at the office shortly. I separated it in two containers, one for you and one for Lee.”

“Amanda, it’s alright, take a breath,” Lee scolded, but inwardly couldn’t help but smile. As frustrating as her rambles could be, secretly, he loved hearing her go on and on. And after the day he’d had with Francine, Amanda just walking in the room was enough to help thaw out some of the frost from his ill temper.

“Thanks, Amanda, I’ll leave you two and yes, I will take those leftovers. One thing I can say for you, is that you are a great cook.” Lee only grunted.

“Well, thanks Francine,” she turned to Lee.

Francine turned to Lee. “Bye Scarecrow.”  
 

“So, what do you need me to do?”

“Sit down and rest for a minute. Looks like you are about to come out of your skin.”

“It has been a busy day!”  
//  
The sound of knocking jarred Amanda from her sleep. She sat up and for a moment, wasn’t sure of where she was. As dawning and recognition set in, the knocking continued. Not wanting to disturb Lee, Amanda rushed from the couch to the door and without even looking, opened it.

“Alan, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.”


	14. Chapter 14

Amanda stood in the doorway of Lee’s apartment with the door opened, Alan just on the other side. “What do you mean “what am I doing here?’ You know that I work at Lee’s apartment sometimes.”

“Yes, Amanda, I know that--but tonight, don’t you remember?”

Amanda stared blankly at Alan.

“We had plans tonight,” he continued when he saw her blank look.

As realization kicked in, she placed her had upon her mouth. “Oh, my gosh, we were supposed to go out to dinner tonight—“

Alan stepped into the apartment and Amanda closed the door behind him.

“That’s right, Amanda! Imagine my surprise when I went to pick you up and your mother was rambling on about your being at Mr. Simpon’s house helping him out because of some injury or something another and that since you hadn’t gotten home yet, you must’ve forgotten our date.” Normally he enjoyed his conversations with Dotty, he could certainly see the resemblance between mother and daughter but right now, he was angry with Amanda for standing him up! “We tried to phone several times, but the line was busy.” Alan looked around then, towards the couch and then towards the bedroom as he wondered where Stetson could be.

“Alan, keep your voice down. I’m truly sorry. I laid my head down for a moment, but apparently I fell asleep. I vaguely remember knocking over the phone headset but I must’ve never replaced it.” She walked over towards the end table and sure enough the phone receiver was indeed on the floor. She replaced the receiver, and then turned back towards Alan. “Tell me more about this colleague that helped you find Lee’s address.”

“Well, it is rather simple actually, I called in a favor.”

“Oh, I see!”

“Well, why didn’t you phone me earlier and tell me where you would be working today and what happened to Lee?”

“Why should I phone you? I was working; it’s just that I had to do it from Lee’ place instead of the office and as I _told_ you earlier, I do work from his apartment sometimes.”

“Taking care of _him_ is work?” Alan arched an eyebrow. “Where is he anyway?”

“Yes it is! And, he is in his bedroom!”

//

In the meantime, Lee jumped when he suddenly heard an angry male voice in the next room. Lee got up quickly, grabbed his crutches, pulled his gun from the nightstand and headed towards the sound of the commotion at the front door. He moved rather quickly for a man on crutches.

          “Amanda, are you alright?” Lee asked as he hobbled over and put himself between Amanda and Alan.

“I’m fine.”

Lee checked Amanda over thoroughly to make sure she was okay before turning his attention to Alan.   “Do you want to explain to me why you are at my apartment and yelling at Amanda?!” _No one raises his voice at my Amanda_.

“Lee, I’ll explain everything,” Amanda jumped in, as she looked at Lee, then back at Alan. “Alan, go on downstairs, I’ll meet you at the restaurant around the corner. We can talk more then.”

          Alan paused as he took in Lee and Amanda’s appearances. Nothing looked suspicious - Lee was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and Amanda wore a plain skirt and simple blouse. Alan couldn’t help the pang of jealously he felt even though it didn’t appear as though anything had happened intimately between them.

“She’ll be there soon!” Lee snapped when he saw that Alan was still in the doorway.

          Alan glared back at Lee, but then moved into the corridor.

Once Alan was gone, Amanda moved over to Lee and placed an arm on his elbow to assist him onto the couch. “I’m so sorry. Did he wake you?”

“That’s okay; it was about time I got up anyway.” _Even though she still appeared tired and there were dark circles beneath her eyes, she was more refreshed looking than she was a few hours ago._ “It’s you I’m concerned about. Where does he get off, you were working for God’s sake!”

“But Lee, he didn’t know that I had to work today, let alone stay this late.” A glance at her watch revealed that it was after 8 o’clock. “And, I was supposed to meet him for dinner over an hour ago.”

“Hmm hmm, he should know that it had something to do with work.”

Amanda shrugged her shoulders.

“You were so tired.”

“Yeah, I remember laying my head down for a minute, to rest my eyes, but I must’ve fallen asleep.”

“Yeah, I remember. In fact, I’m the one that suggested it--.”

“And, I told you to take a rest as well.”

“Guess, we both needed it.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“Do you need anything before I leave, maybe something to eat?”

“Sure! Now that you mention it, I am hungry. Just something light, would be fine.”

“Well, you should be hungry,” Amanda commented as she walked towards the kitchen. “Neither of us have had anything to eat since lunch time.”

Amanda quickly pulled together a sandwich along with a small salad. As she placed the items in front of him, Lee reached forward and their fingers gently brushed against one another their eyes held and met momentarily.

“Well, ugh—“Amanda broke their eye contact and quickly moved away. “Do you need anything _else_ before I go?”

_Yes, I need you, Amanda!_ “No, I’m fine. Thank you for all your help today. I really do appreciate it.”

“It was nothing. It’s the least I could do considering the accident was partially my fault.”

Lee said with a humorous glint in his eyes. “Yes, it was your fault! I don’t see how I’ll ever be able to forgive you.”

Amanda nudged him in the rib gently, she could tell from his look that he was teasing, but she said to him anyway, “Hey, watch out Buster, before you have another injury.”

“I’m just teasing.”

“I know. Promise me that if you need something tonight that you will contact one of the neighbors? I have posted their numbers in several key places.”

“Amanda, I will be fine.”

“Okay Lee, if I come back here and find that you hurt yourself when you could’ve called someone---I’ll quit and have Francine….”

Lee threw up his hands, and said, “I promise!”

“And, Lee, please take your pain pills on time.”

Lee started to protest but remembered Amanda’s earlier threat and said, “Okay Amanda.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll call you before I come just in case you need me to pick up anything.”

“Thanks and Amanda,” he called to her before she left the apartment, “there is one thing you can do for me – find out how he knows where I live.”

“I already know, I’ll explain tomorrow.”

“Amanda?”

“Tomorrow. Goodnight!”

Amanda pulled the door closed and used the extra key she made to lock it.


	15. Chapter 15

As Lee sat on the couch to eat the sandwich and watch a movie, his thoughtsstrayed to Amanda and their time together that day.   After Amanda had rested a few minutes after she arrived, she had proceeded to move in typical Amanda fashion by getting him something to eat and setting up his apartment so that he could move around easily with little to no assistance and not to bump into anything. She also reached out to neighbors, against Lee’s wishes, to check on him, checked his refrigerator for edible food and did some light cleaning and straightening up all by 5 o’clock. She even found time to sit with him and talk. No wonder she was exhausted at the end of the day. Lee had become tired just watching her.

He still couldn’t believe the nerve of Alan showing up at his apartment. But then again, if he was honest with himself, he might feel the same way if he’d been stood up—well by Amanda anyway. _Lee, old boy, don’t try to kid yourself, not til Amanda would you even think anything about it. You would’ve just moved on and went home or found someone else for the night_. But then there was the element of wondering whether Amanda was safe yet Lee knew that Alan’s motives weren’t purely legitimate either. Alan was jealous of the relationship he and Amanda had; Lee would bet his life on that. Tonight’s actions definitely proved that point! But then, maybe Alan had cause to be jealous and perhaps concerned? What was the jealous art historian going to say once he found out that Lee told Amanda he was in love with her?

Yes, Alan and Amanda were dating, but Lee knew that Amanda was also attracted to him, but whether she realized it or not was another story. Even if she did know, was she ready to act on it? Well, she would be back tomorrow and he would have lots of opportunities to help her see that he was serious about her and to convince her that she really did have feelings for him too.

//

By this point, Alan and Amanda were seated at a booth and he seemed more calm, yet was still a little annoyed with her.

“I can’t believe that Mr. Melrose couldn’t find anyone else to help Stetson.”

“No one that was capable, especially not on such short notice.” The mere thought of Francine taking on the task, almost made Amanda laugh out loud. She remembered how helpless Francine had been several months back when the two of them had been assigned maid service duty in order to catch the people responsible for stealing important information and then using blackmailing tactics.

Alan was silent. _What exactly could he say? What was the matter with him? He’d never been jealous before in his life. There was just something about Amanda and Stetson’s relationship that set his jaw tight._

As if sensing his thoughts, Amanda reached out and touched his hand. “Do you think we were in bed together or something?” Amanda asked in a hushed voice.

_Actually no it didn’t. Amanda as he recalled looked rumpled as if she slept in her clothes and Stetson, though dressed casually, hardly appeared to be in any state to do anything unsavory or of a sexual nature._ “No.”

“Okay, so can we order something to eat? I haven’t eaten since this morning.”

“Amanda, I’m sorry, I should’ve realized,” he answered as he picked up his menu and looked at it. After placing the menu down, he took Amanda’s hand in his and brought them to his lips. “Amanda, can you forgive me? Perhaps I did overreact. I was honestly concerned that something might have happened to you. You are usually dependable, so I got worried.”

“Yes, of course I forgive you, this time, but I need you to trust me and not get so jealous when it comes to Lee.” _Oh boy, that’s really going to be easier said than done now, especially considering the new development in her and Lee’s relationship._

“I will admit that I do seem to have a slight case of jealousy when it comes to your partner.”

_Oh God, what will he think once I tell him about the reason why Lee ran into the street and injured himself_? “I don’t want you to feel jealous, but I do need to tell

you—“

“Are you ready to place your order?” Amanda’s sentence was interrupted when the waiter walked up.

After ordering their food, Amanda said, “I want to know more about this person that was able to find Lee’s address.”

“Just someone I know. They owed me a favor, that’s all.” Alan answered, quietly.

_Oh, my gosh! Sounds like something Lee or even Francine would pull._

“I know it was a little bit on the unethical side, but I had to check on you.”

Amanda gave him a look, to which he said, “Okay, I will admit that there might have been a bit of jealousy involved in my motives but I did want to make sure you were okay.”

Their food arrived.

“Look, I know that you’ve had a long day. We’ll eat and then we’ll get out of here, okay?

“Sounds good.” Amanda reached out to hold Alan’s hand, the movement caused her to inadvertently knock over the salad dressing and spill onto Alan’s jacket sleeve.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’ll go wash it out and be right back.”

          “Amanda, by the way, what did you two argue about anyway?” Alan paused, just before leaving.

          “I’ll tell you when you come back.”

//

          Francine had stopped in for a quick bite before heading home from a work assignment when she’d noticed Alan and Amanda in a booth of the restaurant. Francine had watched for several minutes as she tried to determine whether to go over and say hello or whether she should sneak out. As she watched, things seemed rather intense. As she watched the exchanges between them, she couldn’t help but wonder whether or they were discussing the little bombshell Lee had sprung on Amanda a few days ago. Just as she thought it was best if she sneaked out, she saw their hands entwine and then the dressing spill. When Alan excused himself, Francine made her way over to their table.

//

          “Amanda!”

          Amanda looked up to see Francine standing in front of her.

          “Hi Francine.”

“I saw you two when you walked in.”

“Do you care to join us?”

“I’m done and I’m about to leave, but I was just wondering how Alan took Lee’s little bombshell?”

“Well, I haven’t told him yet—“she said slowly.

“How do you think he’s going to take it?”

“Honestly I don’t know. He’s been acting rather jealous this evening.”

“He has, why?”

“Well, it all started with the fact that I forgot our date—“

“What? How could you?”

“I was still at Lee’s and I fell asleep.”

“I bet that didn’t go over too well.”

“Actually, it—“

“Oh, so Amanda, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.” Francine interrupted Amanda as Alan headed back towards the table.  “Hello, Mr. Chamberlain,” she extended her hand out. “I’m Francine Desmond, I don’t know if you remember me.”

“Yes, of course, I do. Nice seeing you again. Will you join us?”

“No, but thanks. I was just about to leave.”

“Well, good seeing you again Ms. Desmond,” Alan said.

“Goodnight,” Francine said, as she turned to go. Before leaving, Francine mouthed only so that Amanda could see, “call me later” and left the restaurant.


	16. Chapter 16

“Stetson here!”

          “Hello?”

          “Oh, I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number. I’m looking for a Mr. Simpson.”

          “Yes, hi, this is Mr. Simpson. Who is this?”

          “Oh, hi I’m Mrs. West, Amanda’s mom”

          “Oh hello, Mrs. West.”

          “Mr. Simpson, I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if Amanda is still there or if her boyfriend Alan Chamberlain had stopped by?”

          Lee grimaced at Amanda’s mom’s use of the word ‘boyfriend’ to describe Chamberlin _._ “No, Amanda isn’t still here and yes, Mr. Chamberlain was here. They’ve been gone about an hour. She is fine; she had overslept and forgot—well, I’m sure she’ll explain everything to you when she gets home.”

          “Probably not,” Dotty replied doubtfully. “Okay, Mr. Simpson, I hope you will be well soon.”

          _Well, at least she knew that Amanda was okay now and she was out with that nice Alan who was definitely an 11, if not a 12! They definitely had been seeing one another quite a bit. Well, perhaps things were getting serious between them. At least she had a feeling that Alan was serious, even if she wasn’t sure of how Amanda was feeling; she never seemed home long enough for her to talk to her so that she could get an idea. Alan certainly seemed worried when he’d arrived and Amanda wasn’t home. Well, now, she could sit back and read some more of her most recent spy novel._

//

They had an amicable dinner, talking about little to nothing as usual. But even though she didn’t say it, Alan could tell that her mind wasn’t completely on their conversation. She’d told him that she had something to tell him, but she seemed to be reluctant to do so. He was trying to give her the chance to tell him what was on her mind. As they continued to talk, it suddenly dawned on him that she never did say why she and Lee had had an argument.

“By the way, what did you and Lee get into an argument about?”

          “Well, Alan, you know how you’ve asked me about my and Lee’s relationship in the past and how you’ve wondered whether or not there was something more between us—“

“Yes?”

          “No, no nothing is going on between us,” she said quickly as she saw the look on Alan’s face. “It’s just that—Lee told me that he is in love with me and we had a terrible fight about it and that’s how he ended up walking in front of a car.” Amanda went on to recap the major points of what happened, talking quickly in her usual Amanda style ramble when she was anxious.

“Amanda, I ‘m not all that surprised that Lee told you that he’s in love with you,” Alan said slowly. “What I’m concerned about is how do you feel about him?”’

Considering his earlier jealousy, Amanda was somewhat surprised by his calmness at her statement. “He’s my friend and colleague.”

“Are you sure Amanda? I didn’t miss the way the two of you were looking last week when he dropped you off at your house.”

“Yes, I’m sure!” She said as she patted his hand, but a voice down deep was asking her the same question.

“How did you leave things with him?”

“That I’m seeing you.”

Alan began to massage the back of her hand with his fingertips. “Amanda, when we were on the phone the other night, I told you that I loved you and you said ‘I love you’ back….”

He didn’t need to go any further because she knew what he was asking, it was written all over his face. “Alan, I do love you, but I’m not sure if I’m in love with you. It’s too soon to know that for sure.”

          He stopped absentmindedly rubbing her hand and lifted her hand to his lips and starred deep in her eyes. “Well, Amanda, I know for certain, that _I am in love with you!_ And, that I perhaps want something more than you’re ready to give me.”

          “And, what is that, Alan?”

          “Your heart!”

          “I enjoy spending time with you and I am the happiest I’ve been in a long time. But if you don’t want to see me anymore, I can understand.”

          “Oh God, Amanda, I’m not saying that! Right now, my heart won’t let me say it, even if my head wants me to.”

          “So, where does that leave us?”

          “Where do you want it to leave us?”

         “I’d still like to see you.”

“I would like that too.”

          They were silent for a moment as they continued to hold hands, as Alan’s fingers caressed Amanda’s hand. Alan paid the check as soon as it arrived and they immediately walked towards the exit.

          “Look, why don’t you let me drive you home? We can take your car and then I’ll catch a cab back here and pick mine up.” Before Amanda could protest, Alan held his hands up. “Please Amanda, it is getting rather late and a gentleman always sees his lady home.”

“Okay.”

//

Back at Amanda’s house, they shared a kiss and just before he left, Amanda asked, “You do know that I’ll still have to help Lee out at his apartment, at least for the next week and half?”

“Yes, I know,” his tone told her just how unhappy about it was. “But I do trust you.”

“As weird as it sounds, he’s my assignment right now. He only has to remain on the crutches for another week, and then he goes to the doctor to see how his ankle is proceeding. “

“But please try not to forget anymore dates,” Alan said with a smile in his voice.

Amanda graced him with a smile of her own, just before they shared one last kiss.

          As she entered the house, she sighed, as she dreaded the million and one questions her mom would ask her. She knew with all uncertainty that her mom was waiting up for her.


	17. Chapter 17

What a day! Amanda thought to herself as she got ready for bed. For so long, she didn’t have anyone in her life, well, there was Dean. But once she met Lee, that relationship had went right out the window, even before the two of them shared any kind of attraction.  Thanks to Lee, her everyday mundane life had turned out to be more interesting. And oddly enough, it was because of Lee, that she now had Alan in her life.

Her thoughts drifted back to the conversation with her mother.

“Is Alan jealous of Mr. Simpson?” Her mother asked as soon as she walked in the house. She was, of course, on the couch waiting for her.

“No, mother, what would make you think that?”

“Well, Amanda the way he hightailed it out of here when he heard that you were at Mr. Simpon’s apartment and you had forgotten your date.”

“No, he was just concerned about whether or not I was okay.”

“Well, of course dear he was concerned, I mean, I was beginning to worry myself, once we couldn’t get in touch with you.”

“Yes, I know now. I’m sorry—I inadvertently knocked the phone off the hook when—“

Her mom raised an eyebrow.

“Mother, when I laid down--” Amanda rushed on to explain, seeing that every word out of her mouth sounded more incriminating. “on the couch. I had laid down to rest my eyes.”

          “Hmm hmm! I believe you. Did Alan believe you?”

          “Of course he believed me!” Amanda had then headed towards the stairs. “I’m spent Mother, I’m going to head up to kiss the boys goodnight.”

          “Goodnight Amanda! I love you!”

          “Goodnight Mother, I love you too!”

 

 

          Wednesday morning, just two days after Lee’s accident and although the day before had been relatively quiet at Lee’s apartment, the morning had been like a madhouse. Word must’ve gotten out that he was laid up, since she’d arrived, if it wasn’t the phone ringing to ask how Lee was doing, it was the doorbell ringing to drop off another plant, flowers or some innuendo or another with suggestive language, some of what she’d never heard of in her life.

“Lee, how are we supposed to get any work done and how am I supposed to help take care of you, if I have to jump up every two seconds to answer the doorbell?”

          Lee looked at her with tongue in cheek, as Amanda carried over one more plant. “Is it my fault that I’m so popular?”

          Amanda replied honestly, “In a word, yes!”

          “That was four words, but who’s counting?”

          Even though she hadn’t said anything further, Lee could tell from her expression that the reminder about his past was bothering her.

          “Look Amanda, that is my past, none of those women mean anything to me!”

          “Lee, it really isn’t my business. Just because you poured out your heart to me; doesn’t mean you owe me any explanations”

“Amanda, that is where you are wrong, I do think you have the right to know.

“No, it would be like me having to explain Alan or any other man that I might be seeing to you.”

“I suppose you are right but—what did you say?” He looked back down at one of the reports Amanda had handed him for review, then glanced up and began to talk slowly. “Hmm, are you seeing someone else besides Alan?” _It’s bad enough that Alan is in the picture, but if there is more competition, he did need to know so he knew what he was up against._

          Amanda was perched next to Lee on the couch. His back was supported against the couch by pillows and his foot was propped up on a small pillow on the coffee table.   It took all she had to not laugh at the stricken look on Lee’s face. “Well, I’m not seeing anyone else, but there really isn’t any reason I couldn’t see someone else; I am single.”

          “Well, that’s right, but I got the impression that you and Alan were pretty exclusive.” _Why was he torturing himself? He loved her no matter what and the bottom line was that he loved her, no matter what._

          “I suppose you could say we are, but I’m still keeping my options open. I might even give Bryce Topping a call.”

          A vein in Lee’s neck began to throb. “Amanda!” he began, but one look at Amanda’s face told him that she was pulling his leg.

          Amanda burst out laughing. “Lee, you should see your face.”

“So, you think that’s funny, I’ll give you something to laugh about.” Before Amanda knew what had happened, Lee had reached out and pulled her onto his lap and began tickling her.

Lee began to tickle Amanda and as he did so, her top began to roll up and exposed her stomach. Lee caught his breathe at the sight of her bare skin; Amanda’s own breathing nearly stopped as his fingers tickled her skin.

“Stop, Lee! Stop!” She breathed out between chuckles.

Lee stopped and their eyes met momentarily. At that moment, the doorbell rang, causing both of them to jump slightly. Glad for the interruption, yet frustrated at the same time, Amanda jumped off Lee’s lap and as she rushed to the door, said: “Okay that’s it! I’m going to ask the doorman to hold anymore gifts at least til after lunch time.”

Amanda handed the beautiful floral arrangement to Lee. “Okay, let’s see who it is from this time Candy in accounting?”

“Actually, these are for you.”

Amanda took the card out of Lee’s hand. Her name was scrolled on the front of the envelope. _Amanda love, just a little something to make up for last night. I hope you don’t mind that I sent them there. I wanted you to have them before you got home. Alan._

“From Alan, I take it?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t tell me how things went last night. I take it he knows about how I feel about you.”

          “Yelp.”

          “And you aren’t going to give me anymore information?”

          “No.”

          There was an awkward silence, but then they went back to looking over the report. They both were thoughtful about elements of their personal situation, yet, they were able to keep away the distractions as they talked about their case and as they did so, they were able to get through nearly all their paperwork. By 1 pm, they had worked up quite an appetite.

//

         


	18. Chapter 18

Two weeks flew by rather quickly, quicker than Amanda had imagined. And her life was certainly full, full during the day and especially during the night. Between the caring for Lee during the day, caring for the children at night and spending time with Alan, Amanda found herself quite exhausted by the time the following Friday came. It was with relief and excitement that Amanda felt when Lee’s cast came off and he was given a walking boot and asked to return to the doctor’s office at the end of the following week. After that, if all was well, he’d be able to return to work on desk duty.

“I bet you are glad to be rid of that cast.”

“Yes, I am.” She knew firsthand how cumbersome it was to be in a cast. She’d broken her own leg some months back but she knew for Lee, particularly, it was awkward not being able to be mobile and do things for himself.

Now as they entered Lee’s apartment, at 1 PM, Lee asked almost hesitantly, “Amanda, do you have plans this evening?”

“Actually, I don’t have any plans this evening.”

“Oh!” _That was a pleasant surprise because Lee knew for a fact that she and Alan had been seeing each other almost every night since he came to Lee’s apartment that night. What Amanda didn’t tell him freely, he was able to get out of Francine and what she didn’t know, he was able to fill in for himself._ Between the boys’ activities, spending time with her mother, baby sitting him and then Alan, he didn’t know how Amanda did it! Lee became exhausted just hearing about Amanda’s busy schedule. “No plans with the boys tonight?”

          “They are going to a sleepover right after school.”

          “And with your mom?”

          “A meeting?”

          “Alan?”

          “Lee!” She nudged him in his stomach with her elbow. “What’s with the twenty questions? If you must know, he is out of town.” _Truth of the matter was, Alan would be away for four days and she was joining him in the morning and staying with him until Sunday. But she wasn’t about to tell Lee that!_

          As he watched her now, the strain of the weeks were shown clearly on her face, but he knew she wouldn’t admit to being tired. That just wasn’t her way. He felt bad about even asking her to stay, but she had been so helpful that he wanted to do something to show his appreciation. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to knock off early and the two of us do something together the remainder of the day.”

“Well, what did you have in mind?” She asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Well, first, you lay down and get some rest.”

“Last time, I did that, it got me in trouble,” she said with a laugh.

“Come on!”

Amanda smiled. “Then, what?”

          _You let me take care of you for a change._ “You’ll just have to wait and see!” What Amanda didn’t know was that Lee had already ordered up a few surprises for her already, anticipating that she would be free at least until her usual quitting time.

“But Lee, you still have to be careful, your ankle is still healing. Sure, we can knock off early and I can stay, but you don’t have to do anything for me.”

“I want to do this for you! Will you please just listen to me for a change?”

“Okay!” she said as she reluctantly lay down upon the sofa.

Lee maneuvered the crutches easily as he walked into the kitchen to make a few phone calls.

“Amanda, why don’t you lay down in the bedroom, you will feel more comfortable there.”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just going to rest my eyes.”

“Okay suit yourself. That’s what you said last time.”

Lee heard Amanda’s laugh as he walked towards the front door. Lee opened the door just as the doorman arrived.

“Lee, who is it?”

“Don’t you worry about it.”

Lee ushered the doorman just to the side of the dining room area. “Thank you for your help!” Lee said quietly, holding a finger up to the doorman. After giving him a hefty tip, Lee walked over to check on Amanda, who was thank God, fast asleep. Lee went to work putting the chopped beef in a wok and letting it cook on low and began to steam vegetables while he set up the remaining sides of rice, fried and sautéed shrimp on the table.

//

          When Lee was done setting up everything, he went back to check on Amanda. She was still asleep. He watched her for a moment, relishing just how truly beautiful a person she was, inside and out. He reached down and touched a loose curl.

          The simple movement caused Amanda to stir. Her eyes opened and she sat up; momentarily unsure of her surroundings. She looked up to see Lee’s eyes upon her which caused Amanda to feel new emotions stirring inside her. “Something sure smells good!”

          “Good because I fixed you a meal fit for a queen!”

          The dining room was set up with an arrangement of fresh flowers on the table, two place settings with several variety of food choices set up in the middle of the table. On the side was a decadent chocolate cake.

          “Oh, my gosh!” Amanda said, as she held her hand up to her mouth. “You didn’t have to do this!”

          “The sides are take-out but I prepared the main dish!”

          “But Lee—“

          “Please don’t protest Amanda, just a little something to say thank you.”

          “Okay.”

          Lee maneuvered the crutches on one side so he could pull out Amanda’s chair for her.

          Lee served a nice Merlot with their meal.

Lunch went by amicably as they talked about little to nothing. After lunch, Amanda insisted that Lee sit down while she cleaned up the table and the dishes.

“Okay but after that you aren’t to do another thing the rest of the afternoon.”

“Agreed.”

Against his wishes, Lee sat down upon the couch and rested his ankle up on a pillow until Amanda came in the living room.

“Now, sit down, I have two more surprises, well three surprises. First, which movie should we watch?” He held up Nightmare on Elm Street, Ghostbusters and The Terminator.

Amanda winced at all of the choices. “What no romance choice?”

“Well, I didn’t think you wanted to see Sixteen Candles. But what about this one?” He then held up It Happened One Night.

Amanda looked over to see the smirk upon Lee’s face. She could tell from his look that he had known all along that the last movie was the perfect choice.

After the movies, Lee surprised Amanda one last time, by handing her a small package. _It wasn’t much, he’d wanted to do more, but because she was technically dating Chamberlain, she didn’t want to give her anything that required too much explaining. He’d given her an even bigger one when she was dating Dean but that seemed different somehow._

Amanda smiled as she opened the package and within were three pandas of different sizes. “Oh, Lee, thank you!” She knew the significance of the present. Lee had purchased a large panda for Aleksei Kalnikov, the child prodigy she and Lee looked after momentarily. She’d told him then that he could definitely buy her affections with with the panda. Next thing she knew, Lee had dropped it on her doorstep, while Dean, was there. “Lee, I well don’t know what to say.”

“A simple thank you is fine.” _For now_ , he thought to himself.

“Well, this has been a nice day.” She glanced at her watch. “Oh, my gosh, is it 7 pm already? I’d better be going.” _She still had to go home and pack and get ready for tomorrow._

“Do you need anything before I leave?” Amanda asked as she got her stuff together.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why were you so angry with me when I told you that I love you?”

          “I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

          “I don’t know, just curious. I guess I was wondering whether or not you were being honest with yourself and more importantly with me.”

          “Why do you think I would lie, to you of all people, Amanda?”

          “Because with Alan in the picture you thought you were going to lose your best friend.”

          Lee gave her comment some thought. “Well, that is a fair assessment I suppose. But do you still think I’m not being truthful?”

          Over the last few weeks, she’d watched him do several things that she’d never imagined him doing—from telling old girlfriends not to call, to getting rid of his black books to actually acting like a “normal” person.” “No I can’t say that you aren’t being truthful.”

          “So, Amanda, why do you continue to try to deny that there is something more between us than just a friendship and work relationship?”

          “Lee, to be honest, with you, I don’t really know.” _But in heart she did known why and she could tell by the look in Lee’s eyes that he knew it too_. “ _Because being with you frightens me and being with Alan is safer. “_

“Well, I’d better be going. Goodnight Lee!”

          “Goodnight Amanda!”


	19. Chapter 19

Lee’s question resounded in Amanda’s ear as she laid her head against her pillow. She was mentally exhausted. What she needed was time away. Good thing she had those plans with Alan in New York. _Yes, you conveniently forgot to mention to Lee that you were meeting Alan this weekend in New York! Well, it was on a need to know basis and he didn’t need to know!_ At least that was what she tried to convince herself as she closed her eyes and attempted to go to sleep.

 _“Do you really think going away with Alan is the answer?” You know that you have an attraction for another man but you also have an attraction for Alan._  Even if she wanted Lee, she wasn’t ready to admit it! Before Alan came along, she’d wasted way too many days and nights on Lee, waiting for him to decide that he saw her, really saw her! First, he couldn’t seem to get the fact that she was his partner even though she’d helped him out countless times in the past, then once it was established that she was indeed a partner to him, he couldn’t seem to figure how that _he_ was indeed attracted to her. But all of a sudden once Alan came along, he was all set and ready to change things. Well what if Alan had never came along? _But he did come along and Lee did tell you that he loves you. What are you going to do about it? And you keep feeling more and more attracted to Lee!_ Well right now, she didn’t care, she was with Alan and he had come along before Lee’s declaration and now she was finally ready to feel alive and like a woman again.

//

          Monday morning, Lee was surprised to hear a knock on his apartment door. Lee reached for his crutches. Amanda must’ve forgotten her key.

          “What are you doing here?” Lee asked Francine as he opened the door.

          “Hello to you, too!” She replied as she entered the apartment. “I’m taking Amanda’s place today.”

          “What do you mean; _you are taking Amanda’s place today?”_

“Just what I said, Scarecrow!” she said as she entered the apartment and placed her bag down on the couch. _Francine knew that Lee wasn’t going to be happy about the switch. When Amanda phoned her that morning, frantic about the turn of events over the weekend, what could Francine do but say yes? Luckily, Francine’s caseload was light mostly paperwork and Amanda promised to help her catch up if she needed help._

“Well, did she say why she couldn’t make it?”

“Just that something came up and that she would call you later.”

“She didn’t say anything else?”

“No! Hey, all I know is that I got an extra-large box of chocolate out of it.” Francine noticed Lee’s grimace. “I’m kidding! I’m just trying to lighten the mood some. I know she went out of town--maybe she caught a bug or something.” _Now, Lee, that should give you something to think about._

_She never said anything about going out of town._

““Now, Lee, please sit down and let me take care of you like I promised Amanda. I see that your cast is off, but she said to make sure you rest.”

“What? Oh, okay.” He was totally distracted now. _Where was she and who was she with?_


	20. Chapter 20

Monday morning, Amanda walked around the parameter of the park and thought back to her conversation with Francine early that morning.

_“Look, Francine, I’m sorry to wake you so early, but I need you to do me a huge favor—,” Amanda had said to Francine that morning over the phone._

_Francine yawned loudly. “Amanda, what the--” She must’ve looked at her clock because her next response was a series of swear words, some of which, Amanda had never heard of before._

_“Sorry Francine.”_

_“Did something happen to Lee?”_

_“No but can you cover for me at Lee’s, at least this morning, anyway, maybe the whole day--”_

_“Sure, I guess, my work load is pretty light today anyway. Wait,” she’d suddenly realized what Amanda was saying. ”You little devil, are you still in New York with Alan?”_

_“No, I actually am back home, but--” she’d hesitated for a moment before she’d continued. “I have some thinking to do and I just can’t see Lee or talk to him right now. I’ll explain everything to you later.”_

_“You better.”_

_“Thanks.”_

_//_

After she hung up the phone and got the boys off to school, she headed to the park for some air. Thank God her mother had a club meeting that morning or she would’ve asked her 101 questions about the weekend. As it was, she’d just barely dodged the topic the night before by saying how tired she was and that she had an early morning the next day. Now here she was at the park and she could allow herself some time to think about the weekend she’d had with Alan.

_Saturday morning, she’d arrived in New York, as planned. She and Alan had spent a wonderful morning and afternoon exploring the sights **.** After dinner, they’d returned to the hotel and changed for dinner. Alan had been a perfect gentleman the entire day, from holding her hand to opening and closing doors for her—just like someone else she knew, her mind had tried to invoke upon her a few times. _

_She’d been wearing a beautiful blue sequined cocktail dress that was just at the knee, with the back out._

_“Amanda, you look beautiful!”_

_“Thanks, Alan, you look rather handsome yourself.” He was dressed in a dark navy suit. Alan was already handsome, but there definitely was something about a suit on a man. Though Alan would look good in just about anything._

_They’d had a companionable dinner with small talk—talk about work, the agency, his current project and about her children. Once music started playing, when he asked her to dance; it was the most natural thing in the world.  Alan’s hands moved along her back as they danced to a slow song and Amanda began to feel sensations that she hadn’t felt in a while._

_As the evening wore on, she became more and more aware of the fact that Alan desired her. Their dancing became slower, his hands became more enticing upon her back, more warm against her skin, so when his lips touched the hallow of her neck desire ran up her spine, so when he whispered in her ear “Shall we leave now, Amanda?” her instant response had been, “Yes!”_

_This was it, what she said she wanted. After all, why shouldn’t she be with Alan, the two of them had been dating for months now and most women would have gone to bed with him long ago._

“Watch out lady!” The young girl on an on-coming bicycle yelled to Amanda, who was lost in thought, did not see her approach.

“Oh, my gosh!” Amanda stopped and moved to the side of the path so she could regain her composure.

//

          Back at Lee’s apartment, Lee had become grumpier and grumpier by the minute. _Well, this certainly hadn’t been how Lee had wanted to start off his Monday morning, but here he was with Francine. And although he could not find much fault with Francine’s help today, his mood had started off on the wrong foot ever since Amanda didn’t arrive and had quickly gone downhill from there. For every piece of paperwork he tried to work on, his mind wouldn’t let him; he was too busy trying to figure out what was going on with Amanda. He thought about calling her house a few times, but each time he started towards the phone, Francine seemed to need it. He then thought about calling Alan, to see if she was with him or knew where she was, but that he knew for sure was not a good idea._ Just as he about attempt calling Amanda again, the phone rang.

          “Lee, I got it!” Francine said and snatched up the receiver. “Hello? Oh I’m sorry, you have the wrong number.” Francine hung up the phone and turned to Lee and said: “Look we have been working for a while, why don’t you take a break, get some rest? You want some coffee or a snack of some kind?”

 _The look on Lee’s face was enough of an answer for Francine. Okay, Amanda, you really do owe me for this one. I’m thinking lunch and a nice stiff drink._ Francine headed towards the kitchen. “Well, Lee, I’ll make some coffee anyway.”

          As soon as she was in the kitchen, Lee reached for the phone and tried Amanda’s number. After several rings, and no answer, Lee hung up. What would he have said to her anyway? _That Amanda, I miss you terribly? That he wished she was here to work with, not Francine? Hell, you could say all or any of those things._

          As Lee contemplated all these thoughts, his phone rang and he picked it up immediately.

          “Hello?”


	21. Chapter 21

“Lee, what is this I hear about Francine being there and Amanda not being there with you today?”

          “Billy, I thought you knew.”

          “I only just found out. I was in a conference with Dr. Smyth and didn’t see Francine’s message until just now.”

          “Well, she said she didn’t have a heavy caseload anyway and that Amanda had something to do.”

          “That is true, the case loads in general are pretty light, but I don’t like it when my agents don’t keep me abreast of what is going on. Where is Desmond?”

          “She’s in the kitchen!”

“Well, get her on the phone, but before you do, was there an emergency with Amanda?” Billy asked Lee.

“Francine didn’t know why Amanda couldn’t make it, thought maybe she had gone out of town, but then again said something about maybe her being sick.”

“Well, that’s not like Amanda not to call you or me directly. Do you think she went away somewhere with Chamberlain?”

“I don’t know,” Lee replied quietly. He’d been wondering the same thing.

There was a slight lull of silence.

          “Oh, let me get Francine.” Lee called for Francine who rushed to the phone once she heard it was Billy Melrose.

          “Yes Sir! No Sir! I’ll make sure next time that I talk to you directly.”

          Francine grumbled as she walked back into the kitchen to finish with the coffee. “That’s the last time I’m nice.”

          “What was that Francine?”

          “Nothing.”

//

As Amanda continued her walk, she thought back to the hotel room with Alan. They had gone back to the hotel and Alan’s hands had been warm, soft and seeking as his lips had moved against hers. He’d murmured words of love and adoration. “Amanda, I’ve wanted this for so long!” Alan breathed against Amanda’s lips.

Her body had reacted almost as if it had had a mind of its own, her own hands seeking to touch Alan’s back and taste the sweetness of his lips, but then the image of Lee’s face came in her mind and her body stiffened in response.

“Amanda, what’s the matter?” Alan asked immediately.

“Alan, I—“she’d pulled back and looked away. As Amanda sat up and straightened her clothes, Alan looked at Amanda and he knew in an instant that though her body was there with him, her mind was somewhere else or rather on someone else.

“Amanda, you don’t even have to say it. I knew I was taking a chance when I continued the relationship with you after Stetson declared his love for you.” _Alan sighed and felt his heart break a little._

“Alan, I didn’t mean to trick you, or play with you, it’s just that—“

“Lee came first.”

_That was exactly it, Lee had come first. Three years of getting to know one another, three years of arguments and fights and time together and of being in close proximity of one another. Though she hadn’t wanted to admit it, Lee had stolen her heart a long time ago. She’d been fighting it, especially these past few weeks since Lee admitted that he was in love with her._

“Alan thanks for being such a gentleman about it!”

“What else can I be? Amanda, you can’t help the fact that you love Lee any more than I can help loving you.”   _Even though Alan was sad it was over, he was happy with the time that he’d spent with Amanda and under the circumstances, if he had it to do all over again, he would._ “The question is what are you going to do about it?”

When Amanda raised a quizzical eyebrow, Alan went on and asked, “Are you going to tell Lee?”

“I will. It’s just a matter of when.”

Even though it was an awkward situation, they had turned on the television and found an old movie and stayed up watching it until they were both tired. Alan insisted on sleeping on the let out sofa. The next morning, they’d had breakfast and then returned to Washington on their originally planned flight.

At the airport they had went their separate ways after Alan kissed Amanda goodbye on the cheek.

“Good luck Amanda! If you ever need me for anything, you know how to reach me.”

“Bye, Alan!”

“Goodbye, Amanda!”

          That had been last night, now she was back in Washington and she would have to face Lee sooner or later.

//

          Back at Lee’s apartment, this time, there was a knock on the door.

          “Well, thank God! You owe me big time.” Francine whispered to Amanda as she opened the door and let her in.

          “I know,” Amanda said as she entered the apartment.

“You okay?”

“Yes, I think so. I’ll call you later to explain.”

“Who is it?” Lee asked as he hobbled from the bathroom.

“Hi, Lee,” Amanda said as she walked further into the apartment.

“Bye, Lee, see you later.” Francine grabbed her purse from where it had been sitting in the closet. “Bye, Amanda.”

“Where have you been? You had me worried sick. Billy was worried. It’s so not like you to—“ Lee knew that he was rambling but he couldn’t help himself. He was just so relieved that she was back and that she was okay.

“What about Mr. Melrose?”

“He called here to find out about your and Francine’s switch.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. I’m fine. I’m sorry I worried you or Mr. Melrose. I guess I wasn’t really thinking clearly this morning when I called Francine. I’ll call Mr. Melrose and explain.” She took off her coat. “I just needed to think. I hope Francine took good care of you.”

“She was alright.” He walked over to her and stood directly in front of her as he looked at her red, rosy cheeks. “Amanda, you look cold. Where have you been?” Lee took Amanda’s hands in his and began rubbing them together.

“Lee, don’t do that. Or I won’t be able to say what I came here to tell you.”

“I just wanted to warm your hands. You look as though you’ve been outside for hours.”

“Well, I have.” She said as she moved away from Lee and paced across the living room floor. “I’ve been out in the park, walking and thinking, thinking about how I just did the stupidest thing, I let go of a perfectly good relationship because I can’t get you off my mind. I mean who goes away with another man, only to be thinking about a different man?” Amanda stopped her pacing and looked at Lee expectantly.

Surprisingly, Lee thought he was able to get everything, understand exactly what she was saying. Lee didn’t linger his thoughts on the fact that she’d said that she had went away—his primary focus was on two things: that she had been thinking about him and that she had ended the relationship. “All you could think about was me?” He held back the smile that wanted to spread across his face.

“Yes! Why did you have to tell me you were in love with me? I was doing just fine, I had a nice relationship with a handsome and successful man, someone that I could depend on and then first you tell me that you love me and then that chemistry that I thought was gone between us seemed to only prove to become stronger.”

          Lee blinked as he tried to keep up with her ramble. “Amanda, I well—“

“Lee, I love Alan, and I’m pretty sure I could’ve fallen in love with him but I have a history with you and before you started dating Leslie, I knew that I was falling in love you and then after Alan came along I pushed those thoughts aside.”

“And now?” Lee had moved over closer to Amanda and was now standing directly in front of her.

“I honestly don’t know. I do know that I’m attracted to you.” And as if to prove the point, a slight shudder came up Amanda’s back when Lee placed his arms around her.

“Chemistry is good.”

Amanda leaned in against Lee’s chest as he placed his arms around her. _Yes, chemistry is good._

They stood that way for several minutes before Lee leaned down and ever so gently did what he’d been wanting to do for a long time. His lips met Amanda’s in a soft and gentle kiss. Amanda leaned in against Lee’s chest, savoring the feel of his lips against hers. The kiss lasted a few minutes, before they reluctantly pulled apart. They remained there in each other’s arms before Amanda moved away. Lee sat down on the couch and Amanda remained standing, yet their eyes remained upon one another.

“What happens now?” Amanda asked.

“That is entirely up to us.”

“Well, have you eaten?”

“Now that you mention it, no.”

“How about I fix us some lunch and then we see what work we need to get done?”

Lee smiled in response to Amanda’s question.

Story complete.


End file.
